Nalpha: Emergence of a Subgenre

So, Nalpha is clipping along nicely.  I'm on the cusp of rolling out the next edition of beta.  Not nearly the huge core changes in this edition that we experienced in the last, but it's still pretty comprehensive.  Or to put it differently, I'm not quite to the point of fretting over the balance of each individual card yet, but those days are not so distant.

I was a bit dumbfounded to discover that, not counting the special "Character" cards, I had tasked myself with the creation of no less than 84 cards for the "Starter" version of the game.  Now, mind you, that is 84 discrete cards - no duplicates at all.

Which brings me to the topic I will be exploring: What do you do with a game that does not fit quite into an existing genre?


To understand my quandry directly, I'll talk a bit about what Nalpha is.

Nalpha (not the real name of the game, for you new readers), is sort of like a trading card game.  I have been clearly and heavily influenced by Magic: the Gathering as well as a few others in the genre.

On the other hand, Nalpha is, by virtue of its design, not a trading card game.  There really is no reason to trade anything.  The cards aren't collectable in any sense.  There is no such thing as a rare card.

For this reason, I have in mind a different idea of "expansion" and enduring marketability.  Forgive me if I don't disclose those to you (and the rest of the universe) here.

To me, the idea innovating a subgenre is exciting, and probably the only way a nobody-indie like me has a prayer and getting published but on the flipside, who do I approach about publication? 

Established TCG companies are a possibility, but they tend to be monolithic and chances of catching their attention seems remote.  Moreover, I don't know if they'd likely deviate from the established pattern of rare-card driven booster sales, since they have a formula that presumably works.  If I don't go that route, then who do I go to?  Table-top publishers?  I'm just not sure.

And that's the rub, isn't it?  As innovation increases so does unfamiliarity.  It's a bit of a double-edged sword.

Still, I have some time before I need to really look into the business end of things.  Maybe I'll have some answers by the time I'm ready to submit proposals.