The authors of books and plays have been well recorded since antiquity (think Homer, Sophocles, and Confucius). But the designers of ancient games like backgammon and chess are lost to history. Well into the 20th century, designers were rarely named on game boxes, and often weren't named at all.
In 1988 a group of German game designers made a pact at the Nuremberg Toy Fair — “None of us gives a game to a company if our name is not written on the box cover!” They all signed their names on a coaster affirming their commitment.
Their collective action made a difference. Most "hobby" (or "designer") games now put the designer’s name on the cover. Several of these designers went on to form Spiele-Autoren-Zunft, which has helped advance the rights of designers in Germany for over thirty years.
TTGDA is founded in this spirit of collective action. Whether you're just starting out, or well-established in the industry, we hope you'll join us.
In addition to offering specific benefits for individuals, TTGDA is advancing rights, protections, and visibility for all game designers. Here are some of our activities:
TTGDA offers three membership tiers
All memberships renew on the anniversary of join date. Membership dues are a tax-deductible business expense.
$100 per year
Our primary tier, offering full membership benefits:
$180 per year
Premium membership includes the same benefits as Full Membership. The additional money will help us get TTGDA off the ground in our first year. In the future, we hope to use extra funding for scholarships and other activities that will assist emerging designers.
Premium members will also be highlighted on our web site.
$80 per year
Associate Membership is intended for people that are just starting out and want to “dip their toes” into designing games, or those that want to be a part of the game design community but are graphic designers, rules editors, artists, content creators, etc.
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