When I was thinking about my design process, I divided the steps into three general phases: scaffolding, outline, and details. Scaffolding addresses the initial have-an-idea process. Outline looks at building the bare bones of the design. And details is the rest of the design process. Source: ShippBoard Games: Starting a Thematic Design
Category: Games
Far Away Times: How To Make Good Small Games
I think projects are most likely to succeed when you only have to learn one or two new skills to see them to completion. Even for people like me with programming experience, complex tool chains like Unity demand a lot from you, and I think that’s discouraging for new devs. Source: Far Away Times: How […]
ShippBoard Games: An Approach to Complexity
there is one aspect of rules complexity that designers can miss: the ratio of complex systems to complex actions. I don’t think I’m the first person to point this out, but it deserves more attention. The more complex the systems in the game, the less those systems can tolerate complex actions. Source: ShippBoard Games: An […]
Game Design Inspiration: Mechanic Creation – The Dark Imp
Here is an exercise I use to encourage new mechanic ideas to pop into my head. Source: Game Design Inspiration: Mechanic Creation – The Dark Imp
Designer Diary: Village Rails, or A Good Thing in a Small Package | BoardGameGeek News | BoardGameGeek
I love games that pack a heap of meaty decisions into a tiny product – especially card games, where formats as lean as eighteen or even eight cards can be turned into rich, replayable experiences, Source: Designer Diary: Village Rails, or A Good Thing in a Small Package | BoardGameGeek News | BoardGameGeek
ShippBoard Games: On Satire
There are two key pillars of satire that often trip creators up. Firstly, satire “must take aim at a target that is larger or more powerful than the author.” Satire must punch up. Punching down is just bullying. So, I cannot satirize an oppressed group, but in theory I could satirize their leaders if they […]
ShippBoard Games: Elegance Vs. Obscurity
To conclude, I’m not sure that complexity is the best way to think about elegance, because as designers we will tend to believe that all of our complexity is necessary. Obscurity (or muddiness, if you need a more visceral metaphor) allows us to ask questions of our design, such as “what is preventing players from […]
ShippBoard Games: Elegance Vs. Obscurity
elegance is the elimination of unnecessary complexity. Source: ShippBoard Games: Elegance Vs. Obscurity
71 Ways to Become a Better Game Designer – YouTube
71 Ways to Become a Better Game Designer Source: 71 Ways to Become a Better Game Designer – YouTube
Spicing up your resource management | Subsurface Games
If all resources are used in the same way, it’s very hard to make them feel meaningfully different. If the only difference between a Stone and a Wood is that building cards use them in different amounts, then there is no inherent difference between the two. Source: Spicing up your resource management | Subsurface Games
