{"id":9604,"date":"2025-10-03T11:32:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T09:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/?page_id=9604"},"modified":"2026-01-26T12:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T11:42:10","slug":"designers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/opportunities\/designers\/","title":{"rendered":"Submit your game design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We started as players back in 2019 with the dream of making the ultimate competitive miniature game. That became Skytear, our MOBA board game. I don\u2019t think we fully succeeded at that lofty goal\u2014but here we are almost a decade later, with 10,000+ players across 8 languages keeping the universe alive. Something must have worked out \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After Skytear and three years of expansions and support (plus a pandemic that forced us to pivot), we released Skytear Horde in 2023\u2014a solo-focused card battler. We expanded it over three yearly releases and then called it \u201cdone.\u201d Enough is enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2025, with the crowdfunding and release of Onward\u2014the spiritual sequel to Skytear\u2014we\u2019ve started a new chapter for Skytear Games, with 4 new titles in 2026 (instead of the usual single title), our first RPG book, and even a video game!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only constant is that all our games live in Olan Taa, our shared universe. Sometimes that world shows up in a serious, epic way. Other times, in a lighter, more playful form like in <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/dicequest\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"9549\">Dicequest<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We want to eventually visit all the common \u201cfamilies\u201d of board games, but always through our own lens. There are so many designs we want to explore: from dungeon crawlers to open-world adventures, or even light and punchy 20-minute dueling games\u2026 it\u2019s all still to be discovered!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, will you join our journey as a designer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What we are Looking for<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re not chasing every idea under the sun but still, we&#8217;re pretty open&#8230; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Playable in 90 minutes or less.<\/strong> We love tense, interactive games, but they should respect the clock. If a session often creeps past an hour and a half, it\u2019s not what we\u2019re after.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strong interaction.<\/strong> We\u2019re drawn to games where players affect each other, not just solitaire puzzles. Whether that\u2019s direct conflict, clever drafting, or tug-of-war over resources, it should spark table talk.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A clear hook.<\/strong> Every great design has that \u201cwhy should I play this instead of the hundred other games out there?\u201d factor. Maybe it\u2019s a surprising theme, a twist on a familiar mechanism, or a way of creating tension that feels new.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Range.<\/strong> Our roots are in hobby games for ages 14+ but we are expanding into family+ games for younger audiences. In both cases, we want something with replayability and personality.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Thematic but re-skinnable<\/strong>: thematic games are a plus on our books and the possibility to re-skin it in our universe is an absolute must. On the plus side, Olan Taa is pretty big and we can approach it from either a serious or more lighthearted angle&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In short: if you\u2019d be proud to demo your game at a convention, with strangers sitting down and saying \u201cthat was fun, let\u2019s play again,\u201d it\u2019s probably a good fit for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Stage Should the Game Be?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We don\u2019t need perfection, but we do need something we can <em>play<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tested, not theoretical.<\/strong> The game should have gone through at least a handful of playtests with real players. You should already know that it runs from start to finish without breaking.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rules that carry the game.<\/strong> They don\u2019t need to be polished but complete, yes. We should be able to play on our own just by reading the rules.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>It does not need to look nice.<\/strong> The looks don\u2019t matter yet as long as it&#8217;s functional.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Room to grow.<\/strong> A good submission is one you\u2019re excited about, but also open to changing. Our job is to help trim, shape, and polish the design into its best self.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Not overproduced.<\/strong> If you\u2019ve already invested in art, graphic design, and a Kickstarter page, you\u2019re probably past the stage we can help.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of the stage as \u201cminimum viable game\u201d: something you\u2019d be happy to pull out at a game night, explain quickly, and get people through a full session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Submit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Send an email to <strong><a>giacomo@playskytear.com<\/a><\/strong> with the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>A short profile<\/strong><br>Tell us a bit about yourself. We care about people as much as we care about designs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A one-pager<\/strong><br>Cover the essentials: player count, duration, age range, theme, core mechanics, what&#8217;s the hook<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A short gameplay video<\/strong><br>A few minutes is enough. Don\u2019t worry about production quality\u2014record it on your phone if you want. We just need to quickly grasp how the game plays.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Must-have components<\/strong><br>A simple list of what the game physically requires (dice, miniatures, special cards, etc.).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Optional extras like a PnP file, Tabletop Simulator mod, or full rules are welcome, but not required at this stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to Expect After<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We\u2019ll always confirm that we got your submission.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We aim to let you know within <strong>two weeks<\/strong> whether we want to take the conversation further. If you haven\u2019t heard from us by then, you can safely assume we\u2019re passing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We can\u2019t promise detailed feedback for everyone, but if your game seems like a fit we\u2019ll follow up to talk more.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your design remains <strong>100% your property<\/strong> until and unless we make a publishing agreement. We cannot sign NDAs under no circumstances.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You can send us multiple designs, but please send <strong>one game per email<\/strong> so we can review each on its own.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re a small team and we treat submissions with the same honesty and care we\u2019d hope for if we were in your shoes. Thanks for considering us \ud83d\ude42 <br>-Giacomo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We started as players back in 2019 with the dream of making the ultimate competitive miniature game. That became Skytear, our MOBA board game. I don\u2019t think we fully succeeded at that lofty goal\u2014but here we are almost a decade later, with 10,000+ players across 8 languages keeping the universe alive. Something must have worked [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":9159,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-page-sidebar.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9604","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9604"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10259,"href":"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9604\/revisions\/10259"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shop.playskytear.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}