Membership

Games have been a part of human existence for thousands of years. But we don’t know the names of any game designers until the late 1800’s.  We know the authors of books and plays going back to antiquity, like Homer, Sophocles, and Confucius, but the designers of backgammon, chess, snakes and ladders, and even relatively modern games like poker are lost to history.

Even though we know game designers from the 20th century, like Lizzie Magie (Monopoly), Albert Lamorisse (Risk), and Sid Sackson (Can’t Stop), they were rarely recognized on boxes. If they had any recognition at all, it was buried deep within the rules. Books, music, plays, movies - all of them prominently feature the creators. Why not games?

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, now referred to as “The Coaster Proclamation.”

Their collective action made a difference. Most contracts now include a stipulation that the designer’s name appear on the cover. In fact, while this was becoming more commonplace, hobby games were sometimes called “designer games” to distinguish them from mass market games that didn’t (and still often don’t) credit designers.

Several of the designers on the Coaster Proclamation went on to form Spiele-Autoren-Zunfte (the Game Designer Association) in Germany, which has helped advance the rights of designers for over thirty years, and has created and inspired other organizations around the world, including TTGDA.

The Tabletop Game Designers Association was founded in this spirit of collective action, collaborating with other organizations and building on their work. 

Our advocacy work with publishers, large online retailers, government agencies, and other organizations all depends on the number of members we have. The more designers that are part of TTGDA the more credibility and power we have. 

So even if you are an established indie designer, or work full time for a publisher - particularly if you are that - we urge you to join TTGDA. You are helping to pave the way for future designers, helping to create a stronger and more vibrant community.

Membership TIERS

TTGDA offers three levels of membership

Full Membership:  $100 per year

Our primary tier, offering full membership benefits:

• Annotated sample contracts and other legal documents
• Contract review service
• Dispute mediation and support
• Designer resource library
• Publisher directory
• Monthly Newsletter
• Discounts for Competitions, Conferences, Prototype Services, and others
• Access to Member Only events 
• Full Voting Rights and ability to serve on Board of Directors and other committees.

Premium Membership: $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 sponsor page

Associate Membership: $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 not designers like graphic designers, rules editors, artists, or content creators.

Associate tier provides these benefits:

• Annotated sample contracts and other legal documents
• Designer resource library
• Publisher directory
• Monthly Newsletter
• Access to Member Only events