After spending many years working in IT, I kind of got used to the fact that nobody, not even my nearest and dearest cared even the slightest about the content of my job. When answering the question about what I do for a living, I’d say I work in IT, then if pressed give my job title at the time. Even those that understood the industry cared little about the ins and outs of my day.

Now, venturing into the colourful world of game design, I’ve found that everybody suddenly has opinions about everything. This has been an incredible opportunity for me as I mostly work alone, so having others to discuss the specifics about the game rules, visuals and gameplay, as well as the other business aspects like marketing and promotion is stimulating and gives me a better perspective of the bigger picture I need to complete to be successful.

However, this also has its downsides – most specifically it’s answering the same questions and getting the same feedback all the time. I used to sigh when working as a product manager and would discuss the product with a new engineer or customer and they would highlight the biggest flaws or missing features that were well known and documented. Despite this, I knew that these were indeed the things that troubled new users and contributors the most, so of course they wanted to discuss them and find out my opinions and plans.

For Gay Sauna the Board Game, I cannot sigh when I hear these things (mostly). It’s tough, but I hope I have maintained the professional exterior when asked for the hundredth time why I’m not making a mobile app instead of a board game, or why my kickstarter goal was so high, why copyrighting my idea is the most important thing I should be thinking about, or why I don’t just get a few copies made now and see how they sell before making a big order.

All of this feedback comes from a good place and answering these same questions repeatedly also ensures that I don’t overlook some of the most important and potentially obvious opportunities in front of me. I also know from experience that these things will always come up, just like people cutting in front of you in traffic or someone chewing loudly next to you on the train. Some things are unavoidable and working out how to stay positive and open to feedback no matter how many times it has been discussed is all part and parcel of going through this journey.

I need to receive feedback and I truly welcome it! No matter how small or insignificant something might seem, or even if for the thousandth time I’m getting asked or told the same thing. It’s all useful to me and I can learn so much from hearing these things again and again. After all, while right now I have no intention to start building mobile apps, it doesn’t mean that in the future this might indeed be an opportunity that is too good to pass up. If I stop listening and answering these questions, I could just miss out on that moment.

So – if you’ve got anything you’d like to let me know about the game, the business or anything else that pops to mind, please get in touch using the contact form to the right (or below on mobile). It might just spark the next big change in my plans!