How does one see a game idea sold?

Honestly, you pretty much have to be in the business. Everyone who plays games has “a great idea” for for a game. Game companies don’t have the time or resources to pursue ideas from outside. Also, pretty much no media company will accept submissions from outsiders. Too much potential legal entanglement. There’s always the possibility to go the indie route, but you’re gonna need the capital to finance it (whether the capital comes from your own savings, a rich uncle, crowdfunding, ect), and you’ll need to know folks who can do the programming, know game design, and who can create the various assets (art, music, etc) and are willing to work for you on an iffy project.

Gee, that sure seems awfully bleak. Bummer that I have to dump the idea. I don’t know anybody anywhere near the business. Thanks for preventing me from wasting my time.

Think of it like a great idea for a movie, or a book.

If you just have an idea for the basics or a twist on a genre, then that by itself isn’t worth anything really. But if you wanted to go ahead and explore your idea far enough to write a screenplay, or storyboard, or write character bios, that would be further along and may be enough to get your idea rolling. Just understand a great script or storyboard is still nowhere near being a great movie and so people will value it accordingly.

If you believe in it, and don’t have outside resources, then take it as far as you can yourself and then try to get it in front of someone who can help you take it one step further.

But if you’ve given it less than an hour, people who spend years making their own ideas a reality aren’t going to treat it like it’s gold.

@funkdaddy, I did have plans to follow through as much detail as possible. I tried a hunting game two decades ago. It was frustrating to me the limits I encountered. The borders were very closed in. The graphics left a great deal to be desired. Mind you, this was so long ago, Madden had only one or two games out.
I bought Pinata for my daughter, and I’ve played it myself several hours. There is limited room to move, but options seem almost limitless.
We’ve shredded snow with Shaun White, That one has a lot more room to move, even interesting little spots to explore. I love that I can go there and have fun without having to play for points if I want to.
Knowing what I do about the games I’ve played, I know there is an extreme amount of groundwork to lay out. I don’t mind spelling out a lot of detail, and doing some research. I just wonder what I can do with it once I put together what I can, if anything.
I would like to see more games out there for younger players which are non violent, and can be tolerated and even played by parents.