Shop Talk Movement Patterns for board games. In this Shop Talk I want to talk about Movement Patterns in board games. In all games where the pieces move from one point to another to represent the piece actually traversing the space, there are some kind of movement rules. The play surface is used in a way to represent that movement. I've…
Current Definition Area Control is currently defined on Board Game Geek as: "The Area Control mechanic typically awards control of an area to the player that has the majority of units or influence in that area. As such, it can be viewed as a sub-category of Auction/Bidding in that players can up their "bids" for specific areas through the placement…
I’ve been working on a pirate themed game that uses probability to determine damage inflicted by cannons. When it came to dice I wanted to know if re-rolling or rolling more was more preferable. Now before you just say Ameritrash and discount the inclusion of skill let me set the context. In this case it’s a game about the Golden…
One of the things I've noticed is that many of us tend to start down a career path, or even a role in a career and fall into a groove. This has been mentioned so many times that it's a cliche now. 'In a rut'. Recently though, I realized that I can reset many things in my life. I can…
I've just returned home from GenCon 50. It was amazing. The first time GenCon has sold out. Yes there were a lot of people there but to be honest it didn't feel as crowded as I expected. The previous times I've done it always seemed like you were shoulder to shoulder in the dealer hall. This time there was some…
The Search So we've been getting ready to go to print with our card games. In choosing card manufacturers we've had to make some hard choices. This is our first run at making card games so we don't have an established relationship with a particular manufacturer yet. I wanted to see what each one of the list we had would make…
A few of the podcasts I listen to and some of the forums I frequent have been discussing board game design tools recently. It made me realize that there are a lot of different methods people use, and tools as well. The Board Game Business podcast demonstrated this very well. One end of the spectrum had mostly pencils and post-it…
Well, you can't create a game without play-testing. Lots, and lots of play-testing. We do it in a few stages like most designers. First, there is the play test that happens in the designers head. Those aren't all that reliable. But then you get practical and you grab some old pawns, poker cards, and spare chits and make a papertype…
One of the things that I know every new designer and publisher is going to have issues with is becoming visible to the masses. You can really run in to a chicken and the egg scenario. What I mean by that is that in order to get attention in the market, you need to have a title that people recognize…
I've always wanted to be a game designer. Since I started doing game design and publishing for real, there has been a lot of learning. I thought it would be helpful if I shared my experience as a game designer getting my games from my head to the table. There are a few things you should know about my approach and…