How do I go about releasing a card game into print-on-demand format whil

January 17, 2014 10:30 AM

Question: how do I go about releasing a card game into print-on-demand format while retaining commercial rights? (I want to make it available for hobbyists and players, but don't want a company to scoop my design and sell it without attribution). I make card games as a hobby, and want to release them into the wild (so the term goes). I just don't want to yield commercial rights, since there's nothing worse than watching someone pull a Thomas Edison on your Tesla-esque ideas. Some people suggested looking at DrivethruCards.com and a few other places (Cards Against Humanity uses a free-license concept I'd love to know more about).
posted by jibberish to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

You could patent it, I think, and/or trademark the name and unique proper nouns used in it. But see previously.
posted by limeonaire at 10:44 AM on January 17, 2014

I would ask this in the BoardGameGeek forums. There are tons of game designers in there (from small to large) and they can offer you specific advice and possible assistance.
posted by jozxyqk at 11:02 AM on January 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

Well, this is the license Cards Against Humanity uses: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. The Creative Commons website has a lot of information about different types of licenses that you might find useful.
posted by mskyle at 11:26 AM on January 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yeah, Creative Commons is the place to look. Lots of self-published games and rpg books are going that route.
posted by Errant at 8:21 PM on January 17, 2014

Also consider a pay-based-on-how-awesome-you-are program for the digital download (keeping it free for the cheapskates, but opening the door to a few bucks to people.

Also, Kickstarter. Digital downloads can be delivered as soon as the funding period ends, with a physical product to be the upgrade that's available.
posted by chrisinseoul at 11:25 AM on January 18, 2014