How Do You Get a Board Game Published?

cyclomedia asks: "I've been dedicating a little of my time to devising a strategy board game, pitched somewhere between Checkers and Chess but probably not as deceptively complex as Go. Without giving too much away I can tell you that there's a nerd factor within the game itself, possibly leaning the possibility of marketing towards the Games Workshop end of the spectrum, but without the 80-sided dice and Orcs. The next step in my plan is to see if I can actually create a prototype made of coins, stickers and cardboard, and then to attempt to teach the rules to my wife (she's a Trek fan, hence the marriage). If I get past that stage, presumably I can't just show up at Hasbro with my jerry rigged setup and expect an enthusiastic response. So, what do I do?"

Re:Come back when you have something

[mwlewis]

He should also try to explain the game to somebody with less patience than a wife.

You must not be married.

Re:Do it, but be persistent

[Thansal]

Oh, and when you type up your rule book, make sure you don't have as many typos as I do in my posts.

Make a fortune

[Anonymous Coward]

You know how to make a small fortune in the game publishing business, don't you?

Start with a large one.

Re:Rule #2142 of start-up business...

[lymond01]

I once developed a game that had 4-8 kingdoms each handled by 10 lords that were in charge of the armies that could go from hex to hex and discover what was there and use it to raise armies or hold land or even go on singular quests to gain powers which were rated from 1 to 10 in 7 different categories for each lord and when players' armies met they could use their different army races in varying strategies to combat the aggressor using dice and the controlling lord's powers which didn't need to be activated but would just work and the combats would go for two turns then the rest of the board could move so reinforcements might arrive and eventually the goal isn't to destroy your opponent but to claim the Evil Tower Hex where you have to battle the army there to save the land and proclaim yourself King.

It's sort of like checkers.