Thursday, December 1, 2022

Crafter Con is The Game Crafter's very own game design convention. Its focus is on education to make you a better game designer. It features a track of seminars and workshops with industry experts. As well as a play testing room where you can work out some kinks with other designers 1 on 1.

Schedule

During the main schedule, there will also be a separate room open and set up for play testing. So if you are not interested in one of the seminars or workshops you always have something to do. This room will remain open until midnight.

Session Descriptions

This is the list of sessions available at Crafter Con 2021.

I Get My Own Card?! Innovative Strategies to Market Your Game

Are you aiming to build your fanbase but not finding those rabid fans? Are you on a small budget but want to show your crowd some big-company love? Come to this session to learn some guerrilla marketing strategies that will set you apart from every other board and card game campaign out there. All of the strategies shared will be presented in low-cost or mid-cost methods to help differentiate for your current budget situation!

Jon Spike is a former high school English teacher turned Instructional Technology Coordinator and instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He has designed many unique games for education and is releasing his first commercial game, Gamestormers, this year. He teaches a course called Video Games and Learning for future game designers and teachers, and hosts a livestream called Gamestorming, where he talks about game design strategies for all different walks of life.

Table For One: Building a Competitive "Paper-Based" AI

Explore the process of designing and developing a challenging "paper-based" AI opponent for your multi-player game. The goal is to provide players a challenging opponent in their solo game experience. The presentation will discuss user interface in "paper-based" AI, identify commonalities in well-regarded AI examples from the board game industry, and offer a "how to" template for designing your own AI using the solo AI sheets in "Breakaway Football" (available on the Game Crafter website) as a test case.

Arthur Franz IV has over 22 years in Learning & Development professionally and is currently the U.S. Manufacturing Training Manager for Intralox, LLC in Harahan, Louisiana. Mr. Franz is also an avid game designer, with nearly a dozen Breakaway Football products on sale through the Game Crafter website. Breakaway Football includes a highly regarded solo mode and was just named to the Best Board Games of 2021 by Board Game Quest. Breakaway Football, published in 2017, is a card-based strategy game where players are the Head Coach of an iconic American professional football team. There are currently 30 historic franchises available with 8 more in production for release in 2022.

Low Cost Resources

Where to find low to free resources for your board game business. Royalty free graphics, lifetime software deals, small biz / entrepreneurial resources, and low cost solutions that won't break the bank.

Nicole Fende, A.S.A. is the designer of the game Body Be Gone, founder of Tesseray Games, and has successfully coached small businesses for over a decade as The Numbers Whisperer®.

Project Management in Game development

This presentation will cover basics of project management tools, techniques and best practices and how they can apply to game development

Anton Goulko is an amateur game developer, board game enthusiast and professional project manager. He has been successful in project management with more than 15 years of project management experience in a variety of industries across the globe. Anton has taught project management to industry professionals and community members for over 10 years, and is always looking to bring and develop project management skills to new industries and eager entrepreneurs.

Designing for different player types and needs

This talk would explore some different player style theories (such as the IPOT or Bartle Types) and how you can design for them with examples. It could also cover designing for target audience, different player accommodations, etc.

Jon Spike is a former high school English teacher turned Instructional Technology Coordinator and instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He has designed many unique games for education and is releasing his first commercial game, Gamestormers, this year. He teaches a course called Video Games and Learning for future game designers and teachers, and hosts a livestream called Gamestorming, where he talks about game design strategies for all different walks of life.

Working with Freelancers

How to successfully find, hire, and work with freelancers. From illustrators to rules review, indie game designers often need to find outside help. We’ll cover shortcuts, pitfalls, and top resources.

Nicole Fende, A.S.A. is the designer of the game Body Be Gone, founder of Tesseray Games, and has successfully coached small businesses for over a decade as The Numbers Whisperer®.

From Protospiel to Kickstarter Success: The Story of Distilled

This presentation is for people at any point in the self-publishing journey. Dave will walk attendees through the evolution of Distilled, from an insomnia-inspired idea in Scotland, to a Wisconsinite's first protospiel (MN), to an international Kickstarter campaign. Topics will cover timelines, budgets, shoulda/woulda/coulda's, small business tips, and how both Component Studio and The Game Crafter were a key part of the process.

Dave Beck is the founder/owner of Paverson Games, an indie game development studio in Wisconsin. Beck is also the creator of Distilled, which raised over $500K on Kickstarter in 2021. When Dave is not making or playing games, he is a Professor of Game Design and the Director of the University of Wisconsin-Stout School of Art & Design, home of Wisconsin's top-ranked game design program.

Fan Made Games - Copyrights, Trademarks and Fair Use

Have a favorite game? What about a movie, comic or television show? How can you, as a game designer, turn your passion for someone else's intellectual property into your own game? Mike will explore the common intellectual property questions that arise when trying to use someone else's IP.

Mike Wokasch is an intellectual property attorney as well as a published board game designer.

Game Design Lessons Learned

List of lessons learn that I often share with new game designers.

Seth Van Orden is a software designer, but he's also design and published 4 games with more on the way. He's one of the co-owners of Nauvoo Games.

Room Layouts & Maps

Crafter Con Seminars

The Crafter Con Seminars will be held in room KO. If you come in the main entrance you can get there by taking an immediate right on the 4th floor. It will be open from 8am until 10pm.

Crafter Con Play Test Room

The Crafter Con Play Test Room can be found on the second floor in the Hall of Fame Room. It will be open from 8am until Midnight.