Inventors
Congratulations on inventing a game!
At Green Board Games we know that this is an exciting time for you as we have also experienced the euphoria of inventing a game and of being proud of what we have done. Green Board Games are regularly contacted about our policy regarding idea submissions so we thought it may be useful to provide some general guidelines for you.
Yes, Green Board Games do take submissions.
In any year Green Board Games may take one or two external submissions - it's very expensive to bring a new product to market and we're also bursting with fantastic ideas for new games so tend to be very choosy.
- The game must be fun to play.
- We only develop games for the 5-12 age group and their families.
- We prefer games which offer multi-level play so that players of all abilities can play together on a level playing field.
- The game must be able to be used in a learning environment.
- Game play has to be under 45 minutes.
Green Board Games know that as an inventor, you feel that your game will succeed with an almost evangelical fervour. That's exactly how we started in 1991 with our first game. However, before you contact Green Board Games there are some things for you to consider.
Green Board Games will not sign an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). This is simply because we may already have a similar themed game in development
and we do not ever want to get into any dispute whatsoever as to whose idea came first. The only winner in this instance is the legal profession.
Before seeking a development partner - make sure you have taken adequate steps for yourself, i.e., Copyright protection, filing a Trademark Application for the
name of your game or lodging a Patent Application. Green Board Games recommend that you fully explore all of these options before taking your next step.
It may be useful for you to look at the following website which explains what you have to do. www.ipo.gov.uk
If, having fully explored the above, you still require an NDA we wish you all the best but please do not contact Green Board Games as we will be unable to help you.
- Please consider what you are looking for. Green Board Games have sometimes purchased inventor's ideas outright. The amount Green Board Games are willing to pay for a concept is in the hundreds, not thousands, of Pounds.
- Green Board Games have also entered into royalty arrangements. This means that we will pay you a percentage of our selling price to retailers. The royalty rate is normally between 5% and 8% which for a game with a r.r.p of £10, generally works out at 20 and 32 pence per game as we sell games to retailers at roughly half the r.r.p.
Hopefully the above has not put you off and you're still as keen as ever to see your game in your High Street. If so, please email your name, email address, contact telephone number and postal address as well as short description of your game, including its working title, age range, suggested retail price, contents, suggested number of players and length of play. We will endeavour to reply as soon as we can and all contacts will be acknowledged.
If you do not have an email address your can write to us using the address below:
Green Board Games
Unit 112
Coronation Road
Cressex Business Park
High Wycombe, Bucks HP12 3RP
United Kingdom
If you feel that Green Board Games are not the company for you there are lots of other reputable toy and games companies you can contact. Your first stop could be the British Toy & Hobby Association in London. The BTHA have many publications on the Toy market www.btha.co.uk. You may also want to look at trade magazines e.g. Toy News www.toynewsmag.com and Toys 'n' Playthings www.toysnplaythings.co.uk
Whatever you decide to do, good luck!
Gary Wyatt
