Sam's Board Game Making Journey Part 1 - How to make a board game

Where do I start when making a board game?

For me it was tinkering with the rules and layout for existing games. Knowing what you like and what you don't like is extremely important and useful.

A great example would be choosing a game that you are not a huge fan of like Snakes and ladders, work out exactly what it is you don't like about it (that the winner is pure luck) and think of a solution - that is board game design in the broad sense of the word.

Before you ask, no, not every game is an expansion of snakes and ladders.

Always remember many and most mechanics and themes have been done before. The question is can you make them better or different? Is there a reason that mechanic isn't used.

I'm currently working on a version of Snakes and ladders that implements “Action economy” and another that is “Worker Placement” as a learning tool for novice board game players. Now if you have no idea what these terms mean it's worth a little bit of research as knowing what type of game mechanisms you are using is important when trying to fix them when it goes wrong.

Believe me, game mechanics go wrong all the time whether there is too much bias for playing a certain way in a game (this makes them boring) all the way to reading and implementing unclear rule books (on a side note, a guilty pleasure of mine is reading unclear rules which then have the obvious stated below).

The main reason I'd suggest tweaking and tinkering with an existing game is it gives you a relatively stable game and rules to start from. Its a foundation that you can try and test things out. Then as you develop you'll start to create your own.

How to work out who your board game is for

This is a great question and, at times, bloody hard, as sometimes you just want to make a game and see where the wind takes you.

In short, to work out who your game is for comes into 2 categories: those, like me, who love and adore the mechanics of the game ;and others who prioritise and value the theme of a game above all else.

In practice, I find that most people will buy a game based entirely on theme and artwork. If it looks good people are drawn to it and give it more allowance if certain bits are bad.

If you're looking for people to enjoy it and want to play it again that means they have to have a great experience when playing it and I would argue that this comes down to the mechanics and “the teach”. How a game functions and is taught is the key to whether players will try it again.

An example I'll give here is Root, because it is very unique and almost has a cult following. Why? Because it has the special elements for players doing all sorts of crazy cool combo moves and implements it pretty well. The greatest downfall is its barrier to entry. New players trying Root out will have many a WTF moment. It's the reason I tell anyone interested in learning Root, and wanting to enjoy it, to play on the App. Its far cheaper and it means you'll learn how everything works before investing in a physical copy.

Whilst every element may not be perfect and have high complexity, the teach is often equally as responsible for the level of enjoyment players have.

On the whole, if you choose a subject or category for your game, that you're passionate about, that is how you start finding lightning in a bottle. I recommend the Walt Disney approach. Read older books that you love and think of how to adapt them to board games.

The main goal of On Demand Board Games is to help people like you and me have Board Games on Demand. From the ability to give a quick teach of games and play them faster, to hints and tips in bringing your game to life, to the actual design and assembly of components for small batch production.

I thoroughly believe that being able to help new designers get their games to market is the way forward.

Thank you for reading! I hope this helps you and look forward to adding more posts as I continue this journey of Board Games.

Sam

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