Our Visiting Professors program is the framework through which we bring outside game designers into Laboratory H, to work with us to produce great content and great games. Yes we will take submissions but we do have some guidelines covering the when, where, what and how it will get done. What are we looking for? Well, the Lab is diverse, but there are some obvious and not so obvious groupings.
If your game is in the high fantasy genre, it will be molded into our World of Harrows universe and share the stage with games like Dark Domains. Don't worry the World of Harrows is huge and we have only scratched the surface.
If you have a sci-fi game, it will find its way into our Neon Shadows universe. We are really excited to see how new games will bring life to this dark and gritty, futuristic world.
Sports games are welcome here. We love sports and think they get a raw deal in gaming. However we don't really have the resources (time, money, personnel) to seek licensing by the various governing bodies. So remember, our baseball game can have a Boston team, but they sure as heck can’t be the Red Sox. Never say never though, and maybe if we can get a good running start we may look to that direction in the future. For now, the guideline is don't bring us any sports game that requires a tie-in to a license, and if you do, don't be disappointed when we change the name of Ichiro Suzuki to Tony Yamaha in the final version.
Historical topics are always good or games with a real-world tie. Truthfully the real world is always more interesting than fantasy if you study it close enough.
You bet. We are also interested in Role-Playing Games and even books if those are your passion.
Jeff & Carla will have times at each convention they attend to look at games. The best time to get a game in our hands is then and there. You can pitch it to us and give us a prototype to examine on our own. Games presented in this format will be given some leeway in presentation and completeness.
If you want to send us a game, we ask that you message us first and give us a pitch via e- mail. While we can’t give it the green light without seeing it, we may be able to stop you from sending us something we can’t use. Games sent to us will of course require us to basically blind test it ourselves, so it needs to be in full final prototype form. Also be aware that we cannot send back games sent to us.
Jeff & Carla will look over all submitted games and either reject them or commend them to Jonathan. Each year we will pick a few games to join the pipeline in the Laboratory. Once we take them in, Jeff & Carla will develop those games and add or subtract whatever is needed to make the games fit an IP or just be the best games we think they can be. After that Jonathan will give them a shine with an artist to make them ready for sale. Then depending upon the game, there may be a Kickstarter campaign, it may go directly to print, or it may be put on our pre-order list to await enough orders for it to get printed.