Tips & Resources for Board Game Designers
What Kickstarter backers want to see in your campaign.
Mark Rivera (@blightygamer) and Michael Fox (@idlemichael) canvas the BoardGameGeek forums:
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/789720/running-a-great-kickstarter-campaign
“Asking is the best way to learn what folks want!” - @idlemichael
“Ultimately with any game I design, I want that finished game to be as close as possible to a state where it lacks nothing and needs nothing more.”
“Whatever piece you put in or take out should be there or not because it is essential to the very nature of the whole.”
- Todd Sanders (@lackriver) on Why I Design Games
http://whyidesigngames.tumblr.com/post/20899808185/todd-sanders
“My First Principle of Game Publishing: Work with competent publishers, or you will have delays, inferior products and a lot of extra work.”
“Your precious mechanisms are not the primary goal; they are a means to an end.”
What games can you play to make you a better designer? Turns out there’s a list:
http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/140448/boardgame-recommendations-to-become-a-better-game
Miscellaneous tips for creating a print-and-play, from the BoardGameGeek designers forum:
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/789362/general-advice-on-creating-a-print-and-play
An extensive guide for first-time self-publishers, with lots of specifics, from someone who just did it:
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/789423/game-design-and-self-publishing-a-primer-for-self
The 31st Game Designer Convention in Göttingen, Germany is June 2-3, 2012
Preview:
http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/9496/gottingen-game-designer-convention-2012
Application:
Interview with Alf Seegert, designer of Trollhalla and The Road to Canterbury:
“Don’t be afraid to find design influences OUTSIDE of board games. Often the best ideas do not come from games at all!”
“Recently I’ve followed Elton John’s rule: if the song doesn’t write itself quickly, don’t bother. Development can take months (or even years) but if the basic idea doesn’t come together quickly, I move along.”
http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/9228/in-the-road-to-canterbury-i-meet-alf-seegert
Make a Better Game – Limit the Player
“Presenting someone with a huge number of options does not give them more ‘freedom’ – in fact all it does is overwhelm them.”
http://jonshaferondesign.com/2012/04/03/make-a-better-game-limit-the-player/
HT @BoardgameNews
“Don’t wait! Get talking about your book or about your game, or about your anything, as soon as you have an idea well formulated.”
“Light/Medium games emphasize FUN. Heavy games emphasize CHALLENGE.
Medium games emphasize both for sure, FUN and CHALLENGE, but it’s the shared emphasis on FUN that keeps it from becoming a Heavy game.
Don’t get [me] wrong, CHALLENGE can be FUN, but it doesn’t emphasize FUN at its core, it emphasizes CHALLENGE. Make sense?
”
“My First Principle of Game Design: Start somewhere new and you have the greatest chance to end up somewhere new!”
“As a publisher, one of the most powerful tools you have in your arsenal is the ability to give fans permission to do things with your stuff.”
“Game design is mind control. So is marketing. Game designers, take note: design your products like you design your games. (Game != Product)”
Grant Rodiek (@HerrohGrant):
Tasty Minstrel posted the PNP and rules for their new game for free. This is the way to do things.
Tasty Minstrel Games (@TastyMinstrel):
.@HerrohGrant When you had confidence in the game play, the logical conclusion is to make it available to people to try before pledging.
Grant Rodiek (@HerrohGrant):
@TastyMinstrel I agree with you 100%. It’s the way all projects should be presented.
The pros and cons of “take that” mechanics, by Grant Rodiek (@HerrohGrant):
http://hyperbolegames.com/2012/04/09/on-the-take-that/
SEE ALSO:
How much “take that” is too much?
http://cardboardedison.tumblr.com/post/19570523389/how-much-take-that-is-too-much
What to use for prototype cards? Some ideas on BGDF:
Some Game Playing Styles, and How Games Match One Style or Another
“Lead a game to worldwide success: keep it simple that people understand it; make it different that people recognize it; but keep it familiar”
