This post takes a look three set of three things I think are important when starting out designing board games. I’ll write about the game, publishing the game and the designer in these sets.
The first set is about the game, and how a designer can start his path towards a polished game. Each game can be placed on this triangle portraying the traits of it. Each peak can be used as a starting point but eventually you want to move closer to the center of the triangle. You need to think about these three while designing.
- Audience
- Mechanims
- Theme
Personally I usually start from a mechanisms standpoint, see the triangle in this post. For me gaming is about learning new way to challenge yourself. I’m not much of a people person so immersing myself through mechanisms is the obvious way to go. Many years ago I just started designing games and when for the first time I showed them to other gamers they presented me with some basic questions relating to this set.
What is your target audience, was the hardest one back then. Nowadays, this is something I consider when going through my ideas. Do I want the game to be light and fluffy or hard with plethora of choices. Do you design for children? Then the game must be as easy as colorful as possible. The truth is that easiest way to get a game published is to design game for casual gamers, the hardcore games while fun to design are the hardest to sell to a publisher. Childrens games and licenced games from past years, think Loopin’ Louie or The Batman Game.
Mechanisms can be used, and usually are used, to start design games. While new mechanims are hard to come by, “old” mechanisms can be used with new and innovative ways. Abstract games, such as Yinsh, are purely mechanisms first, with a hint of audience in the mix. The new mechanisms are usually “shower thoughts” that the designers wants to see in real life. I usually have these thoughts after a game night where I have played a intriguing game or while listening to a podcast.
I have my own downfalls using this starting point. Many years ago, during the first two years of the hobby, I had a surge of innovation in design and I introduced a new prototype pretty much weekly for a year. Most of the ideas came from the new games I was introduced and I wanted to make them better or at least different. From those games I still have many that are in the review rounds. The problem here is that as time has passed the mechanisms are not new or fresh anymore. Some of the games feel like rehashing of something else and bring nothing new to the hobby. So, most of the prototypes are now shelved and will remain there until I come up with something new that can be added to them.
Theme is last thing in this set but theme is as important as the two before it. Theme first might also be the hardest thing to do. First you have to come up with a interesting theme. I would argue that themes have become a better selling point than before. The common space and medieval europe reigned and are still strong usual themes but now we have many unusual games with good combination of theme and mechanism. Think Arkham Horror or Terror in Meeple City. The reason I think theme first is the hardest is the restrictions you have to put to your mechanisms while designing the game. Everything must be explained through the theme and you have little wiggle rome to improvise in the mechanims department. I know that this is something people disagree with me as some people can find justification/explanation for everything through common mechanisms, such as hand management.
The second set is about publishing your game, this is assuming that you want to publish your game. I can think of three ways how to get your game published and that is my next set of three.
- Self-publishing
- Through networking with publishers
- Contests
I have knowledge of the last two. At this point I have no interest in self-publishing a game. It requires time that I don’t have. You also have to know a lot more details than I know now and I have no interests learning those details. The people who self-publish their games deserve an applause for doing it. I also have another gripe about self-publishing. Has the game seen too few eyes to be a polished, marketable game? I have played many kickstarter games that are quite ready but not there yet. If those games would have been gone through a publisher development they might have been better or shelved altogether.
So, I think the best way to get a game published is to get to know the field and publishers personally. internationally I only attend the Essen fair and it has become the place to present my games directly to the publishers. The point here is that you want that publishers know you, not just your game. It is much easier to talk to a publisher when you know them. This is to most time-consuming process in the game design but eventually it should pan out. The hard truth is the most games are not unique and publishers gets many games to review per month. If they see a name they know or better even that you show a prototype yourself you might get the response you want faster.
I have bothered many publishers through email without ever seeing the publisher and got many responses, one even lead to a deal. However, I still think that it is better to setup a meeting and show the game while playing making a connection with the publisher. Like I said, the possible deal it can be more about you than the game.
Contests are pretty similar than networking. If it is a contest by a publisher it gives you an insight what they’re looking for and can make a desing specially for those needs. If it is a contest such as Hippodice, you know that your game could be reviewed by multiple publishers. Contests also have a deadline that must be met. This single thing is very important as you cannot procrastine with your design when applying for a competition. My advice is that do it, send your games to contests. You have nothing to lose but all to gain.
The last set of three is about the designer himself. I have three tips that are worth repeating from other post similar to this.
- Play to stay current
- Design to fail faster
- Learn while going forward
Play to stay current means that our hobby is rapidly evolving these days and many new things come out each year. As a designer you want to be on the front of the wave not after it. Think playing games also as a market research. Your game fights the limelight with many other similar games, if you know the published ones it is easier to discuss with publishers and playtesters also about the differences and improvements your game bring out.
Design to fail faster is a concept that is crucially important in my mind. It is same with everything else, your first ones are going to stink. The changes are that they’re not the next big thing. Like I said when I started I had a huge surge of prototypes for a year. I pretty much prototyped every idea I had. From the 30-40 prototypes I made, 30-35 were dropped after the first try. You need to let go if something is not working. You can have an idea per day and I would encourage to try them out but eventually you notice that the process evolves in your head. Nowadays, I delve on the ideas little longer. I “mentally” evaluate them before making them. This has led to the point that I only make 5 new prototypes per year but they’re much more polished right from the start and can lead to better things faster. This however could have not been possible without going through the process of failing often in the beginning. I pretty much have everything stored digitally so I can go back to and idea and rework it. At this point I have to thank my old gaming group “Kärmes” enduring my bombardment of new prototypes.
The last thing was touched a little in the previous paragraph but it is that learn from your mistakes and improve your designs. Learn while going forward also means reading, listening and writing about game design. I read a lot of rulebooks and some game theory books, I also listen to many podcasts. This is part of staying current but also give new insights into old designs. The writing thing is the hardest. There is the Finnish game designer of the year competition going on and I made a point to myself the read most of the public rulebooks on the forum and also write feedback on them. The writing part helped me to evaluate the games better and in the process I might have helped other designers on their games.
First the Idea 