Congratulations on publishing your new gaming product! Your next challenge is to find someone who cares enough to share their opinion about it.
Tabletop gaming products are no different. So how do you convince people to do it?
You'd be surprised how hard it can be to get family or friends to do this. Not everyone is a writer, or is on the platform where you published your game, or has the time and energy to write a review. In my forty years of gaming, only one player (a friend of my brother's) from my original D&D group ever wrote a review of any of my books. Some never even read them.
Fans come and go of course, but reviews last. Convincing a fan who may only support your Patreon for a few months but is willing to write a review that will last for years can actually be more valuable. Fans can also be your harshest critics though, so be ready for whatever review you get.
Do your research beforehand. To start, spell their name right and address them using the appropriate pronouns. I'm astonished by the number of folks who took time to contact me on LinkedIn but spell my name wrong ("Micheal"). Additionally, I'm sometimes solicited for reviews for products I have no interest in. It's important to know the difference between a role-playing game reviewer of video games and a role-playing game reviewer of tabletop games. And finally, be very clear about what you're asking: the title of the game, a short description, a link with further details, and a means of contacting you if interested. I get several vague "let's work together" emails or "hi" chats that require more work on my part to figure out what the publisher wants. These often are ignored in favor of succinct requests that explain who they are and what they're asking.
On more than one occasion, I've been contacted by companies blindly and when I responded, they ghosted me because I didn't have a large enough social media following. Want to turn an indifferent reviewer into someone who will never bolster your product ever again? This is the way to do it (I still remember every company who has done this to me).
Creating a game isn't easy and getting it reviewed isn't either, but the payoff can be considerable. But there's an art to asking for a review without being overbearing or worse, turning the reviewer off from your product entirely.
Your Turn: How do you convince reviewers to review your game?
Does Anyone Care?
When I run my brand training workshops I'm fond of pointing out that the biggest challenge on social media isn't saying the wrong thing, it's that nobody cares. When you decide to engage with the social media community, they don't know who you are, so you have to work hard to make your voice heard. Or to put it another way, the most deadly threat to a product is that nobody cares enough to even comment on it.Tabletop gaming products are no different. So how do you convince people to do it?
Friends and Family
This one's easy enough: ask friends and family to review your product. As we've mentioned previously, it's important for that person to disclose their affiliation with you for many good reasons, but it's still better than having a product with no reviews whatsoever. With rating systems that don't always show text reviews, the score you get might be all that most potential customers see.You'd be surprised how hard it can be to get family or friends to do this. Not everyone is a writer, or is on the platform where you published your game, or has the time and energy to write a review. In my forty years of gaming, only one player (a friend of my brother's) from my original D&D group ever wrote a review of any of my books. Some never even read them.
Fans
There's a good reason friends and family may not review your game, although it's hard to hear: they're just not a fan. This isn't to say they don't have other attachments to you (at least, I hope they do!), but it's not in the same way as a fan of your work. Fan-engagement matters tremendously in motivating someone to write a review. If you have a Patreon, Discord, or some other list of fans following you, asking them to write a review is a great way to encourage them to show their love of your work.Fans come and go of course, but reviews last. Convincing a fan who may only support your Patreon for a few months but is willing to write a review that will last for years can actually be more valuable. Fans can also be your harshest critics though, so be ready for whatever review you get.
Professional Reviewers
Different platforms have different review incentive programs, usually a free product in exchange for a review. These reviewers are in high demand and they have significant constraints on their time, so how you ask for a review matters.Do your research beforehand. To start, spell their name right and address them using the appropriate pronouns. I'm astonished by the number of folks who took time to contact me on LinkedIn but spell my name wrong ("Micheal"). Additionally, I'm sometimes solicited for reviews for products I have no interest in. It's important to know the difference between a role-playing game reviewer of video games and a role-playing game reviewer of tabletop games. And finally, be very clear about what you're asking: the title of the game, a short description, a link with further details, and a means of contacting you if interested. I get several vague "let's work together" emails or "hi" chats that require more work on my part to figure out what the publisher wants. These often are ignored in favor of succinct requests that explain who they are and what they're asking.
Open Calls
There are press and reviewer lists out there which companies purchase access to. As a reviewer, you might be on one. All the advice above applies with one caveat: since you are essentially engaging an audience blindly, you have to follow through on your commitment to deliver the product for review. Or to put it another way, sending a mass email to a community of reviewers means you give up your right to decide if the reviewer isn't a good fit for your product when they volunteer to review it.On more than one occasion, I've been contacted by companies blindly and when I responded, they ghosted me because I didn't have a large enough social media following. Want to turn an indifferent reviewer into someone who will never bolster your product ever again? This is the way to do it (I still remember every company who has done this to me).
Creating a game isn't easy and getting it reviewed isn't either, but the payoff can be considerable. But there's an art to asking for a review without being overbearing or worse, turning the reviewer off from your product entirely.
Your Turn: How do you convince reviewers to review your game?
