“I do appreciate the effort you put into communicating without ever publicizing your own games (which would be quite interesting to hear about sometimes).”
These are the words of someone who commented on a recent video on my game design YouTube channel, where I’ve posted nearly 800 videos over the last 6 years. I’ve mentioned this channel on previous posts, but I haven’t focused on why exactly I spend so much time talking about my love of other publishers’ games on YouTube and Instagram instead of the games I’ve designed and published.
I started posting this type of content on my YouTube channel in 2014 for one reason: I love discussing game design, and I didn’t have an outlet for it. I learn so much from playing games by other designers, but if I really want to anchor those lessons in my psyche, I need to talk about them.
I also wanted to focus on the positive, as I think there’s something clever and worth emulating in every game. I made the distinction from the beginning that I’m not a reviewer–I don’t accept review copies, I don’t impose any limits on myself in terms of how often I should play a game before sharing what I love about it, and I do my absolute best to focus on what I love.
I quickly found that even more helpful than talking through my favorite mechanisms were the comments from people who shared their thoughts, and I try to facilitate that by ending every video with a few questions. I read every comment.
To be fair, I do mention Stonemaier Games products from time to time. Just like any other game, I make “My Favorite Mechanism” videos about our products, and when I make top 10 lists, I often mention design decisions I’ve made (even though our games aren’t eligible for the lists).
But 99% of the videos focus on games by other publishers. Why would I do that? Aren’t I effectively referring people to my competitors?
Potentially, yes…though I never think of it that way, especially since I view other publishers as peers, not competitors. Just because someone buys Shards of Infinity, 7 Wonders Duel, or Architects of the West Kingdom because I shared my love for them on my channel doesn’t mean they won’t buy a Stonemaier product.
But there’s no question I spend a fair amount of time–probably a few hours each week–composing my thoughts, creating the images, recording the videos, uploading them, reading comments, and answering questions. Plus, Joe spends time making the longer “Sunday Sitdown” videos look nice with some editing.
Is it worth that time and effort? I think so. If it were taking 10+ hours a week, I’d have a different answer–at that point, it would be taking me away from my core responsibilities at Stonemaier Games. But 2 hours of becoming a better designer by sharing my thoughts and chatting about them with the community? Totally worth it.
While my motivations for chatting about other publishers’ games were never driven by marketing objectives, I’ve thought about the following as justifications for me to continue spending a minimal amount of work time on this type of content:
- I’m drawn to people who share their love of their industry and community beyond just their products. When I hear James Hudson sharing a game he’s excited about or when I watch a review from Ed Baraf, it makes me even more inclined to support their products. It’s the same psychological effect I experience when I see that a Kickstarter creator has backed 100 other projects. This isn’t to say that a creator must spend their social currency (and actual currency) on games from other publishers, but I’m genuinely enthused when I see that, and I suspect I’m not alone.
- My trust for a designer increases if it seems like they don’t only play their own games. Every time I listen to Gabe Barrett on the Board Game Design Lab podcast or Peter and Mike on the One-Stop Co-op Shop podcast, my trust of their design skills increases, as it’s clear that they’re learning from a variety of games. I trust them to make great games. Plenty of designers I love and admire play games without constantly posting about them on social media, but again, it’s a nice little trust boost when I hear that a designer isn’t solely focused on their own games.
- It provides another forum for people to connect with me. I love when I feel like I know–and have public access to–the people behind my favorite companies. That connection means something, and it can make even the biggest company seem small and personable.
- I like having a voice on an important platform. I’m a very small fish in a big sea on YouTube. But I’m glad to be in the ocean. It means that in the rare instances I want to use my channel to discuss a Stonemaier product, I can do so, and people will see it. The content I post is permanent, so the reach extends far beyond my 27,000+ subscribers in the long run.
What do you think? Is it worth a creator’s time, resources, and social currency to talk about other publishers’ products they love?
Also read:
- Etiquette in the Public Eye
- Top 5 Things to Know About Content Marketing
- Top 10 Ways to Be a Likable Content Creator
- 5 Low-Tech Tips for YouTube Creators
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13 Comments on “Sharing the Love…of Your Competition”
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I like your lists and agree about Sushi Go. When I travel, I take games with me for that group of relatives or friends to play. I usually bring a selection of cooperative, heavier, and lighter games. Also, I bring a game to give to my host if I am staying at someone’s house. Sushi Go is one that I have gifted multiple times, because it is small, easy to learn, and the games are quick. Most people I have played it with like it, even when they are not board-gamers! So, I would put it on the top ten travel list, but also on the top ten gift list.
[…] Sharing the Love…of Your Competition […]
[…] their creations, it can come across as myopic if that’s all they share. I talked about this in a 2020 post in which I wrote, “When I hear James Hudson sharing a game he’s excited about or when I watch a […]
Hey Jamey,
Yesterday I zipped you a facebook message, which Joe picked up on. Hes suggested I post my comment here. Coincidentally enough, this blog entry you just posted somewhat relates to the reason I wrote to you as it’s giving a leg-up to other designers. In my case, unpublished designers.
This was my message:
“Following your advice in “A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide”, your blog (and partly also from my desire to help people and my fascination with the creative process) I was hit by the idea to begin a thread on BGG where I interview unpublished designers. The response has been fantastic! In just over a week I have clocked up nearly 60 interviewees (I’ll be posting one a week, so that’s over a year of material already).
The variety of the why and how they design has been enlightening: from those about to launch a Kickstarter, to those who design games to help raise awareness of mental illness. I have been genuinely touched by the enthusiasm and hope my little endevour leads to these creators getting some eyes on their work they otherwise may not have.
I know you’re flat out, but if you would like to take a look, even if only to see the enthusiasm of the respondents, here is link (it doesn’t look like the full link, but it works):
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2500668/unpublished-designer-good-i-want-interview-you-rea
(Lastly, I likely would not have had the idea without you, so thank you. It has lead to an incredibly rewarding experience.)
I think this is a brilliant idea! Thank you for sharing, and I’ve subscribed on BGG.
Well, you’ve just gone and made my day. Thank you, Jamey. :)
I used to own a local business (not related to games) and one of my best relationships was with a person who was directly competing with me for clientele, with a location just 1.5 miles literally down the street. Other people in our industry thought I was an idiot for even talking with her, much less our occasional collaboration, but it was the most fruitful relationship I had in the industry.
We figured out pretty quickly that although our customers were seeking the same category of service, we did serve two very distinctly different classes of customer. When a potential customer came in to either of our locations we’d often find that this customer is really looking for more of the other person’s offering, and we’d regularly refer them to each other. In addition to making us both successful, I think the customers quickly recognized the integrity in each of us and it made for stronger customer relationships.
I think its worth talking about the hobby/industry in whatever fashion you can manage. Talking about other people’s games helps to crystalize my thoughts on how those games work, and not work, and if I can bring even one person to a game that I love that’s a fantastic bonus.
Jamey, you say that bringing someone to Shards of Infinity doesn’t mean that they won’t buy a Stonemaier game, I’d sort of disagree, but only in that I’m willing to bet that someone owning Shards of Infinity makes them much more likely to own a Stonemaier game, or a Z-man or Pandasaurus game than someone who doesn’t own any sort of hobby game. Having a community filled with enthused and welcoming people brings people in to the hobby, and once people are in the hobby they’re much more likely to branch out into it further.
Thanks Glenn! The double negative in my sentence may have been confusing, as I was saying exactly what you said here. :)
I know :)
As I say, I know a lot of people who own zero hobby games, and a lot that own ten or more, but almost no-one who owns just one or two. So if someone can be moved from zero to one by the enthusiasm of anyone in the community it seems likely that they will then keep going. Objects in motion and all that.
As someone who watches a lot of your videos, I definitely appreciate you making them! They surely improved my design skills ;) Cheers!
***It provides another forum for people to connect with me.
So true. I am feeling connected to stonemaier and you, because of not just your games, but your videos. I’m a loyal stonemaier fan and it’s led to sales. I have no other loyalty to other publishers. There is no personal connection to them. Your puting yourself out there and connecting with people about board games. Your doing a great job. Grant Z
Thank you, Grant! I will try to continue to earn that loyalty.