How should the players feel? Do you want them to feel heroic, thoughtful, paranoid, etc? This will help you figure out other aspects of the game.Who is the game for? Defining your target audience is going to help you make lots of design decisions.I find it helpful to answer a handful of basic questions as I begin a new design: Even if those games have a similar theme, their “fun” is going to be found in very different places. An abstract puzzle game is going to provide a very different experience than a character-driven adventure game. In other words, start defining the player experience. Find the FunĪs soon as you have an idea for a game, go ahead and start thinking through where the actual fun will be. Just figure out a system that works for you and go with it. This makes it easy to move and change ideas, and I always keep a few notecards in my pocket, so I can write down ideas immediately when they pop up. Personally, I write everything down on notecards and use recipe organizer pages inside a three-ring binder to keep track of everything. This works well for people who like to be able to write and draw easily on the same page, and it can help you avoid the distractions from a digital device. Other designers opt for a physical method and use things like a bullet journal, notebook, or color-coded binder. This makes storing, editing, and moving ideas really easy. Some people go all digital with things like Evernote, Google Docs, or OneNote. Where to Put IdeasĮvery designer has their preferred place to put and store ideas. Typically, it’s more about the way your brain approaches the world anyway, so don’t get caught up on the frivolous debate.Īnd if you’re having a hard time figuring out which mechanism(s) to use in your game, you can find a massive list HERE. Just go with the method that works best for you. Honestly, there’s no wrong answer, and all three methods have led to games considered to be the “best of all time.” Some designers start with theme others start with a core mechanism and more recently, some designers start with a specific experience in mind. There’s an age-old debate about the best place to start when creating a game. And remember that most great writers are actually great re-writers, and in the same way, most great game designers are actually great re-designers. Once they’re out, you can start figuring out everything else. Just get as many thoughts out as possible. There will be plenty of time for that later. Write down placeholder ideas to bridge the gap from one thought to another.ĭon’t hold anything back, and don’t worry so much about organization or critiquing your ideas. Write down bad ideas that you’ll erase later. Write down everything that comes to mind. So, the best thing you can do is simply start getting ideas out of your head. Usually, something will spark an idea and make you think, “That would be a cool game!” But then what? Turning an idea into a playable game can seem like a monumental task, and it’s often so overwhelming to think about that many people just leave the ideas in their heads. The first stage of game design can be the most exciting but also the most challenging. But in those moments, just remind yourself that games matter, and they have the ability to improve people’s lives. So, if you ever find yourself asking, “Does this even matter?” the answer is YES! All artistic expressions come with their fair share of tough days, and designing board games is no different. We bring people together around a table to experience something that will hopefully build relationships and create lasting memories. That means game designers are storytellers to the highest degree because what we’re really creating is opportunities for others to tell great stories. They give people the opportunity to not only enjoy a story but also to have an impact on how that story gets told. Instead, games give players an active role in determining how the experience is going to play out. Why Designing Games Is Importantīoard games are different from other forms of entertainment because they’re about a lot more than just sitting and absorbing content. Now, that’s obviously easier said than done, but hopefully this booklet will help you start figuring out what it takes to create a fun engine that keeps players coming back time and time again. So, as a designer, you want to maximize the time to fun ratio. Players put time into it and get fun out. To put it simply, a board game is a fun engine.
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