“Innovation comes from seeing what everybody else has seen before, but thinking what nobody else has thought before.”
“An elegant, efficient design should be the goal of every game—and every game designer. After all, most of us don’t really want to feel like we’re doing time on a stationary bicycle when we get together for a game night. We want the mental exercise, but we also want to go somewhere, and an efficient, elegant design makes the ride smoother and every aspect of the experience easier to enjoy.”
Printing a board for a prototype: some ideas from the BoardGameGeek designers forum:
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/789815/printing-a-board-for-a-prototype
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
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
“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?
”
