Hi all

I'm new to the game development community and need some advice.

I've created 2 educational games with a simple idea but are sufficiently challenging for all ages. These could be played on pcs or phones.

Is it worth patenting any parts of the games?

What would be the best way to monetize?

How should I market the games?

hendrix7 said:
I'm new to the game development community

Really? Your profile shows that you've been a member here since 2004, and your last activity was in 2007, asking about raycasting.

hendrix7 said:
Is it worth patenting any parts of the games?

Probably not. Expensive and there will be hurdles, and possible lawsuits after the patent is granted (if it is).

hendrix7 said:
What would be the best way to monetize? How should I market the games?

There are several threads here in the Business and Law forum about that. While you wait for more replies from the community, you can read up on those previous answers to those questions. Mainly, “you should have thought about that before you finished your games.” (You wouldn't be “desperate” now.) Good luck with your sales!

@hendrix7 Filing for a patent can be expensive, and you need to document the solution and how it separates from anything else. I have developed software that solved problems in a way that no other software does, but there is only a very small portion of that that can actually be patented. Even though you can file an application yourself, I would recommend hiring an experienced IP attorney. This too is very expensive, though, so you are best off doing this if this idea can provide millions in income. If it can't, then it's actually not that harmful if anybody copies it.

You could look at registering trademarks, design and other parts of the games. This is cheaper, but it will protect you brand more than your idea or solution.

Again, if this is something that could turn a real profit, it might be worth looking into. If not, it's a very costly waste of time.

As for marketing - my day job is actually creating videos and commercials etc., so naturally that's the first thing that comes to mind.
Make videos for social media or other platforms where your target audience is likely to see it. Oh, and you need to define a target audience. Know where they are, what they respond to, what their struggles are and how your product will solve their problems, enhance their life experience or in other ways contribute positively to their life.

There are several other ways to do this, but the list exceeds my level of expertise in the area.

patenting is costly, and time intensive.

As said above, it depends on a lot if it's worth it.

@hendrix7

1. Nothing is worth patenting unless you're willing and able to defend your patent. There is no patent police; you're responsible for finding and prosecuting infrigement.
2. What you're patenting has to be novel and non-obvious to a person skilled in the art. You called your idea ‘simple’ which makes me wonder if it's obvious or already in use.

@Tom Sloper

Thanks Tom

I have been programming for a while but not games until now.

Thanks for getting back and your advice, particularly patents.

@scott8

Thanks for your reply.

I see. The play of the game utilises basic maths skills so I'm guessing it'll be difficult to identify anything that's unique. I suppose, in a similar way, it would be difficult to patent something like ‘Wordle’. Am I right?