Brandon the Game Dev

I’m a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions. While choosing January 1 to start something that you’ve always wanted to do is completely arbitrary, it sure does work!

With that in mind, I want to help you come up with some New Year’s Resolutions of your own, ones specifically related to board game design. Never one to pass up on a delicious clickbait potential like “20 New Year’s Resolutions,” I’ve come up with, well, 20 of them. Pick a few that you like and see where it takes you!

1. Create your first board game.

If you’ve never created a board game or pursued a passion project, this is a great goal to start with. It’s straightforward and a lot of fun. You don’t have to publish it or market it or any of that. Just go out and make a great board game for fun. Card games count, too!

2. Play-test with game designers.

If you’re the kind of creator who has a few prototype board games in your closet somewhere, consider playing one of them with a few game designers. You can usually find them at Protospiel conventions or even local game stores or Meetup groups. You will learn a lot more about play-testing with game designers than you will even with avid board gamers. Designers notice totally different things and it’s a good experience to have.

3. Order a professional physical prototype of one of your board games.

Whether you’re making a board game for the first time in 2020 or you’re digging up an old prototype and polishing it to perfection, don’t underestimate sheer ecstasy of being able to hold your actual, physical, printed game. It’s a rush and websites like The Game Crafter and Board Games Maker make it very accessible.

4. Experiment with a theme or mechanics you’ve never used.

If you’re a more veteran board game designer, why not push yourself by trying something you’ve not tried before? Let’s say you’ve made light games. Try making a heavy game. If you’ve made heavy games, make a light game. If you’ve made board games, make a card game. Experimenting helps you grow your skills and it shows you new things that you might like!

5. Buy some board game art, even if it’s just one piece.

Similar to ordering a professional physical prototype, getting a talented artist to do a little work for your game can be a major motivator to keep going. My first game, War Co., truly became alive when I got the first art from James Masino.

6. Learn how to make more accessible board games.

“Accessible” is a loaded word in board gaming, but the basic concepts are simple: make games for as many people as you can. Try reading some articles on Meeple Like Us – they’re very informative and Dr. Michael Heron writes what could very easily be a dry academic subject with compelling intelligence and humor.

7. Launch a Kickstarter campaign.

This isn’t right for everyone, but Kickstarter can really help you start a business if you use it right. It’s a great way of gaining visibility, setting yourself up for long-term success, and – hello – earning money, too!

8. Get featured on a podcast or a blog.

One of the smartest things you can do in any business, especially the board game business, is make friends. Content creators such as podcasters and bloggers often enjoy working with guests. It’s mutually beneficial and it gets your name out there.

9. Build up one or more social media accounts on a site such as Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

You can read more about that in my article here: Setting Up Social Media as a Board Game Dev: A Primer Course.

10. Learn how to use Board Game Geek.

Board Game Geek is a thriving, lively community that neatly captures the general ethos of board gaming as a whole. It’s a great site to learn from, meet people, and promote your work. It’s also incredibly complex as a community and it takes some getting used to. The year 2020 is a good time to get started!

11. Learn how to use Reddit.

Much like Board Game Geek, Reddit is a complex community that takes some getting used to. There are some really good subreddits for board games such as /r/boardgames and /r/tabletopgamedesign. Might be good to look into next year!

12. Go to a board gaming convention.

While they are expensive and often require substantial time off from work, conventions can be a lot of fun. It’s worth going to one just for the experience, and if you’re really dedicated, it can be a fantastic networking event as well.

13. Launch a blog about board gaming.

I’m a fan of this one, though many would never be able to tell.

14. Build an email list.

Every product launch requires building an audience. That requires getting their attention, piquing their interest, and – as many people forget – giving them a place to go. Email lists are a very powerful tool for growing a small business, and Mailchimp lets you get your first 2,000 subscribers for free.

15. Start a Facebook group.

Facebook is, and has been, the biggest social media network for a long time. It’s not the trendiest, but the juggernaut of online connection. Groups are a great way of gathering like-minded individuals into one place to chat.

16. Learn how to sell.

Sales is a good skill to pick up for any industry. You can read more about it in my article A Crash Course on Selling Board Games.

17. Get one retailer to carry your game.

If you’ve got a game published but you sell it directly to customers, it can be a major moral victory to get your game carried in a single store. It doesn’t have to be Walmart or Target. Just try calling 10 or 15 stores within a couple of hours of you. See if they’ll buy five copies.

18. Learn how to use advertising.

Advertising gets a bad rap, but it’s still one of the best ways to get eyeballs on your project. Learn how it works. I recommend using Facebook Ads and Google Ad Words to get started. Even if you fail, the insights you gain might tell you something about your audience.

19. Participate in a board game jam.

Looking to refine your board game development skills? One of the best, and most exciting ways to do that, is to participate in a board game jam.

The basic premise is simple. You have a very limited amount of time to create a game around a specific subject. By constraining yourself with such tight time constraints, you cannot procrastinate on decisions. You just do what seems right. Sometimes, that’s exactly what you need in creative work.

20. Play the top 10 games on Board Game Geek.

Last but far from least, to make great board games, you have to play great board games. Why not commit to trying the top 10 board games on Board Game Geek in 2020?

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That’s all I’ve got for you 🙂

I hope this gives you some good ideas. I want to see you win, and sometimes all you need is a goal.

Happy New Year!

This week while working on my current board game design, a lot of things have come into focus. Now it’s time to start tweaking board game rules. This is where board game design often becomes very tricky.

With this in mind, let’s talk about how exactly you can make board game rules. As I said last week, “rules regulate the way mechanics are implemented. A mechanic is the concept behind the game and the rule is the way that it’s handled to ensure balance.” Rules are really tricky to do right because you have to serve two purposes: balance the game and communicate clearly.

Rules vs. Rulebooks

Speaking of communicating clearly, let’s draw a distinction between rules and rule books. Rules are conditions within the game that constrain the players from immediately achieving their objectives. Rules can be in rule books, on cards or pieces, or on the board itself.

• “You may only move six spaces in a turn.” (A movement rule in Highways & Byways)
• “You must draw 5 cards and discard 3 of them.” (A rule from a card in War Co.)
• “The first to reach 20 VP wins.” (The win condition in Twilight Struggle)
• “If you get more than 3 cubes on a city, they spill over into the next ones.” (A rule from the book in Pandemic)

The rule book is a document meant to teach players how to play. It always includes at least some rules but often doesn’t include all of them. Many of the rules in a game will come from the board, cards, etc. Rule books teach information as well as intention.

Rule books need to be short, or else outside sources will explain the game for you. They need to include examples and specifics, but they shouldn’t go overboard by explaining the finer points of strategy which are better left discovered.

Rule books can be used to prime a player’s experience to make sure the player has the most fun possible. They need to be concise, visual, and skim-able. They need to give players enough information to play the game, even if they only halfway read it.

Making Balanced & Clear Rules

You can’t have a game without rules. A game without rules is by definition simply free-form play. You can have a game without a rule book – it might just be difficult to play.

With all this said, how does one create rules that fulfill the twin purposes of balancing the game and communicating clearly? I have some guidelines. This is non-exhaustive and it just includes what’s on my mind this week.

Playtest a Ton

No amount of planning, cleverly designed trade-offs, Excel spreadsheets, or game design theory will ever replace the need to play your game hundreds of times to make sure the rules work. Sometimes stuff you don’t expect work ends up working beautifully, and vice versa.

Consider How Much Challenge You Want Your Game to Have

Rules are the primary way to add constraints (or rather, difficulty) to the game. Think long and hard about how much you want the game to fight back against the players. Make sure your rules are lined up with your intended difficulty. Failure to do this thwarts player expectations, which makes them upset with the game being too easy or too hard.

Consider Where Your Game Falls on the Luck/Skill Spectrum

When it comes to luck vs. skill, there is no ideal way to create a game. There is a sliding scale of luck and skill and you need to choose a place you want your game to fall along that spectrum. Make sure your rules are tonally consistent with your intentions.

Avoid False Choices

If you give a player a choice, make it a tough one. Nothing takes the steam out of game like too many obvious decisions. It makes a player feel powerless, perhaps even like the game is being condescending. When rules force players to make a choice, all choices should come with important pros and cons.

Clearly Point Out Relevant Keywords

Relevant keywords should be capitalized at the least. When you introduce them for the first time, it’s a good idea to bold the words as well. When you make reference to the color green or any other color, you should stylize your text to match.

Use Consistent Keywords and Phrasing

Nothing is more confusing than rules which call the same thing by different names. In Highways & Byways, I make reference to tracking pieces called Travel Cubes. I call them Travel Cubes every time I reference them. The words Travel Cubes are always capitalized in the rules – both the rules in the rule book and the rules on the cards.

Use Present Tense, Active Voice, Second Person

Be direct when writing rules. You will directly address the player with succinct imperatives.

If a Rule is Confusing, Drop It

Want to know how to find a troublemaking rule? Look for a rule requires a bunch of tracking or a bunch of caveats. Your game will be played by people who don’t know the rules inside and out. It might be played in a loud environment. The more you force your player to remember bizarre little rules, the more you risk being misunderstood.

14 Rules for Board Game Rules

Let’s conclude this article by giving you some rules for making rules.

1. Rules are how we implement game mechanics.
2. The reason we have rules is twofold: balance the game and explain how to play.
3. Rules are conditions which prevent players from immediately achieving their objectives.
4. The rule book does not just contain rules. It teaches players how to play the game.
5. Rule books need to be concise, visual, and skim-able. 
6. Rule books need to give players enough information to play a game, even if only halfway read.
7. Good rules match the intended level of challenge for gamers.
8. Good rules match the intended luck/skill balance of your game.
9. Avoid false choices!
10. Always point out relevant keywords.
11. Use keywords consistently.
12. Use present tense, active voice, and second person when writing rules.
13. If a rule is confusing, drop it.
14. Play-testing above all else!