Notes From the Board Game Design Lab Podcast

Introduction #

These are notes I’ve taken about game design I’ve taken while listening to the Board Game Design Lab podcast.

Episodes #

1 2

Episode 1: What I Wish I Would Have Known before I Got into Game Design with Jamey Stegmaier #

December 13, 2016

Episode Notes #

• The first prototype is not a designed game. Until you playtest the game it’s just an idea.
• Idea for a design challenge: Design an expansion for an already published game.
  • Publishers and designers may want to hear about fan made expansion because they may have run out of ideas to expand the game themselves.
• The Value of Blind Playtesting
  • Blind Playtesting: Putting a complete game together, including rules, and letting strangers learn and playtest the game and then provide feedback.
  • Friends and Family won’t provide honest and brutal feedback.
  • Take notes and watch body language while blind playtesting.
    • Videotape blind playtesting sessions to review at a later time.
  • Your first playtest of any game is going to suck.
    • The difference between an idea and prototype is huge.
    • The difference between prototype one and prototype two is huge.
• Be Active in the Boardgame Community. In Persona and Online
  • Good from a design perspective and marketing perspective. Helps establish relationships prior to launching a Kickstarter project of pitching a game to publishers.
• Play a Broad Array of Board Games
  • Play both good games and bad games to understand what makes them good and bad.
  • Play game out of your comfort zone to expore games you wouldn’t normally play.
• Have Ambassadors For Your Game
  • People want to be part of something that’s bigger than themselves.
• Fun and Interesting Choices Mater More Than Theme or Mechanics
  • Sometimes you have to sacrifice a thematic element because it’s not fun or sacrifice a mechanic because it doesn’t have interesting choices.
  • Don’t create a game, create a fun engine. When people put time in they should get fun out.
• Once Your Game is Published You Spend More Time Teaching Rather Than Playing
  • Focus on making a game that you’re excited to teach.
  • Design your rulebook with a story in mind so it flows well and is easy to teach. People learn and remember through the story.
• Avoid Expectations in the Rules
  • If you have a lot of little expectations to the rules, a person might spend a lot of time looking at the rules even if they play the game more than once.
  • Search your rules for the words “except” or “unless”. Cut down on them as many as possible.
• Working With an Artists / Graphic Designers
  • Go with a stranger over your friends/family.
  • People who are good with iconography may not be good with the technical requirements for print.
    • Don’t assume people know how to do everything. Ask if they know how to do specific tasks.
  • Publishers don’t necessarily want art or graphic design with a submitted prototype. They are probably going to change art direction or retheme the game. Don’t waste your money.
    • Have art that works for the game. i. e. Stock Images, Clipart, etc.
• Learn About Manufacturing Cost
  • Your game may cost too much to manufacture.
  • Going though manufacturing process takes time.
  • Game Designer forums are a good source of information for common cost. i. e. Cubes, Tokens, Cards, etc.
  • The Game Crafter will give you a rough idea of the cost of components. The price are a little inflated.
• Using Kickstarter
  • Have some type of awareness or crowd e you put your project up on Kickstarter.
    • It’s not Kickstarter’s job to give you backers.
  • Stretch goals can sink you if you let them.
    • Learn to say No to ideas from backers.
    • Metal coins are not a strech goal, they’re an addon.
  • Beaware of Shipping Cost
    • It’s cheaper to send games to fulfillment centers around the word than a central location.
  • Keep in constant communication with backers.
  • Just because a successful project has done something, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for your project.
    • Earlybird and exclusives are a good example.
• Running Your Own Publishing Company
  • Don’t quit your job the day after you fund your project. You may no have enough profit to live on.
• Struggles That Come With Success
  • People’s response to a game can be heavily influenced by the hype for a game.
  • Keep the hype window short between when people get excited for a game and when they can get their hands on the game.
    • Always undersell and overdeliver.
• Manging Pressure With Your Next Game
  • Have fun with designing the game.
  • You’re putting the pressure on yourself. No one is pressuring you to design the next hit game.
  • Create the best possible thing you can.
• Reading Game Reviews
  • It’s not your place to explain design decisions in response to reviews.
  • It never turns out well and comes across as you being offended.
  • Use reviews to learn why people don’t like your game and use that to help with your next game design.

Episode 2: How to Work with a Co-Designer with Luke Laurie #

December 13, 2016

Episode Notes #

• Pros Working with a Co-Designer
  • Every design has areas that are week that you may not see unless you have a really critical mind attack it.
• Shortcommings of Some Games
  • Designers don’t test every aspect of the game.
    • Should treat game like science experiment or engineering stress test.
• Playtesting Games
  • Everythinng that is possible with your game will occur.
  • You need to test for repeated actions each turn. “If I do X every turn what will happen?” Test scenarios even if the action isn’t something a normal player would do.
  • Look at one aspect of your game and try to break it to determine what the consequences will be.
  • You need to really refine the mechanic to hold the game together.
• Challenges of Working with a Co-Designer
  • You have to split the money!
  • Working with someone remotely is not as fast as working locally with someone. Ideas can be tested faster.
  • Differnt personalities, goals, work styles can be challenging.
• Working in a Design Partnership
  • Having a design hierarchy is one approach that might work well for decision making. Lead Designer vs. Assistant Designer
  • Sometimes the decision will come down to the playtester’s feedback.
• Setting a Framework for a Design Partnership
  • Go into it with skeleton of a design concept.
  • A great approach is to go to another designer with game design and ask them to help complete the design with you.
    • This doesn’t put too much obligation on the other person to create a whole bunch that might be lacking.
    • You’re going into the partnership with a clear expectation of what you’re creating.
    • The ideas will be focused a not just random and all over the place.
  • Think about and research who you want to co-design a game with. Identify someone for their particular talent, there experience, their love of certain mechanics or themes.
• Advice About Co-Designing a Game
  • Think about your personalities and if you’re going to enjoy spending time with this person.
  • Consider the person’s reliability and if they have enough time to devote to the project.
  • Think about working in a design hierarchy
  • Keep in mind your ultimate path for the game. Kickstarting vs pitching it to publishers.
    • Kickerstarting a game is incredibly time consuming.
  • You both have to be okay with failing.
  • Don’t try to push a five into a world of nines.
  • It’s curtical to be upfront with the expectations.