Super-Secret Clandestine Game Construction Resource: The Board Game Designer's Forum
Although
I've shared some of my own tips on paper game construction, a great
resource for other tips and opinions is the Board Game Designer's
Forum: www.bgdf.com.
Truth be told, I avoid the site for the most part - not because it's
not useful (it is!). It's just that there are so many good tips to be
found, it can be a bit... distracting. Plus, I don't like to expose
myself to a million other design ideas while I'm in the midst of
gelling a design. It really is a good site, though.
Gathering it all Together
Organizing
your prototype and containing it is important to make your life easier
and also to make it portable. I use fishing tackle boxes and map/poster
tubes. You can find little tackle boxes for cheap at the K-Marts,
Targets, and also at certain unnamed ginormous superpowerful
mega-corporations of the world that begin with the letter “W” and are
based out of Arkansas - a strange state whose name is pronounced quite
differently than appearance would seem to insinuate. (A name which is
exceptionally confusing when taken in context with the nearby state “
Kansas ”, pronounced “Kan-saw” to some.)
Other Considerations: Looks Good vs. Tastes Great
The
great Aesthetic Dilemma. Having a sexy prototype improves play
experience. However, you might find you spend more time prototyping and
not enough time playing. Also, making a stunning prototype might reduce
your willingness to make necessary changes that would require you to
dismantle your lovely creation.
Also,
there's a school of thought that says “if they enjoy playing your
terrible, ugly, lame prototype, then they will LOVE it when it is
jazzed-up.” Well, that's how I rationalize it anyway.
Playtesting
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“Playtesting - Let's Put Some Lipstick on this Pig and See if it Can Dance!”
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Playtesting
is a huge subject in its own - too big to cover exhaustively in this
article. However, here are some key tips to bear in mind:
Have an idea of what outcome you'd like out of the playtest session.
This
can be broad (“I'd like to see if the game is ‘fun,'” “I'd like to see
what the flow is like.”) or it can be narrow (“I'd like to see how the
game plays with 2 players,” “I'd like to put the psychic combat system
through its paces.”). Whatever it is, just have a goal. Otherwise, you
might have a waffling, undirected playtest session with no concrete
deliverables or quantifiable outcome.
Be prepared to write.
Sounds
dumb, but be prepared to record feedback, “bugs”, and data. It's easy
to get so focused on getting the prototype made and set up that you
don't focus on prepping to get the most out of the session(s) possible.
If necessary, have an extra helper to act as secretary and record
important information, so you can focus on administering the game.
Be prepared to adjust in real-time.
Almost
every time I do a first playtest, I'm amazed by how different something
in the game is from what I predicted. Also, even though I've gotten
better and better and drafting rulesets, there's nothing like the first
time you set up and try to play through a game - you are guaranteed to
find holes in your rules. I'm not talking about degenerate strategies
or anything fancy; rather I mean true show-stopping holes, like “oh,
how does that work?” In any case, be ready to plug holes, make rules
changes, and otherwise mold your game on-the-fly.
Case
in point: I just finished up a prototype for a board game which
involved a particular mechanic that I was quite proud of, one that I
conceptually believed to be a huge part of the game. On turn 2 of the
very first playtest, I realized the mechanic was 500% better in my head
than in practice. Accordingly, I could instantly tell the game was
going to be a bust unless I removed it. So remove it I did, right then
and there during the very first playtest. The game immediately
improved, and I realized it could stand on its own without the Golden
Mechanic. Adjust on-the-fly.
Be impartial.
Playtesting
is one of the absolute best things you can do for your game - don't
corrupt the information you get by arguing with your playtesters.
Listen to them. They aren't necessarily right, but they will provide
honest feedback. They haven't been living inside of your head, and they
don't know how great your game could be. They only know how great the game is.
“Know” your playtesters.
If
your game is hard-core strategy aimed at the professional gamer, don't
waste much time having a casual gamer play it and tell you how complex
and confusing it is.
1st playtest vs later playtests.
A
last thing: the 1 st playtest for a game is a whole different animal
than later playtest sessions. For me, the goal of the 1 st playtest is
to successfully get the game set-up and played through. It's like
casting a wide net and seeing what kind of fish live in a particular
stretch of water. Later playtests are hunts for specific fish.
Don't
expect your first playtest session to be fun. You might spend the
majority of your time just plugging hull-breaches and trying to keep
the game afloat. There's an old adage in the kit-plane industry: don't
schedule your first flight test to be a party or social event where all
your friends and family come to see all your hard work pay off. Save
that for after you've got the kinks worked out. Don't put any more
pressure on yourself than necessary. Your first playtest session is
about rolling up your sleeves and hopping into the ring. You might not
be photogenic after getting drubbed by Clubber Lane for 10 rounds, so
don't plan an evening gala.
Playtesting NDAs
Remember the legal forms. Non-disclosure Agreements are vital for all involved.
Review forms
The
more you prepare for your playtest session, the more value it will
yield. Preprinted review forms are a great way to get meaningful
feedback from testers.
Yes, a lot of this is just like focus testing, so many of the same tips apply.
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“A Victim...err ‘Assistant'... is Always Helpful”
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Off to the Guillotine with Ye!
When
it comes down to it, paper prototyping can almost always provide
benefits to your game development that far exceed the effort, cost, and
time involved. The worst that is likely to happen is that find you're
well on-track with a good design. The best that could happen is that
you prevent crippling changes from occurring late in the project. There
might be no faster way to becoming a social pariah in your company
circles than the words “Late Design Change.”
Much
of prototyping is common sense, and can be boiled down to 3 easy steps:
improvise, adapt, revise. So what're you reading this for? Get cutting!
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“Infect the Towns of the World with Your Plague Prototypes”
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