Everything You Need To Know About Board Game Design

I'm Adam Porter I'm a game designer from the UK and my eighth published game Zing aam was recently released at Essen Spiel by brain games my first games big Bazar and Doodle Rush were released in 2017 and followed over subsequent years by pcoo throne comomatz and Zulan and I've chronicled every step of that journey into professional game design on this YouTube channel and in this video I'm going to signpost you to a video covering every question you might have about the process 2014 was a big year for me I'd visited Essen Spiel convention once before in 2012 but this was the first time I visited with an intent to get my own designs published I recorded a video diary that year and for the next few years candidly discussing my experiences of pitching to Publishers now they're not the most dynamic videos they're recorded early in the morning or late in the evening when I'm the most exhausted whispering in a dark hotel room but they're open and honest videos and they accurately convey the experience of pitching to Publishers as a newcomer to the industry it was my good friend Rob fiser who suggested that I make these video diaries all those years ago and Rob and I went on to work together on several games over the years including comomatz the genius gems and several more upcoming projects Rob fer and I discussed our approach to collaboration in two videos in 2020 recording the process of Designing quizzle and compromat.ru Ely YouTube does not allow you to embed more than a handful of links into videos so I'm not going to link directly to all the videos I discussed today but I will add links in the description below and all these videos are easily found by searching through my YouTube channel or entering the video title into YouTube search I receive emails almost every day from viewers of this channel mostly new designers taking their first steps in the industry and rather than write the same email response over and over again I filmed a couple of videos which function as entry point points for new designers probably the First videos you should watch if you're new to this channel this video from idea to shelves is a good starting point for most it covers all the broad questions that I tend to receive from new designers you've made a game fantastic now how do you get it in front of Publishers and persuade them to reduce it we get into a little more detail in some other videos but this is a great one for a broad overview the other question I get asked all the time is how to protect your game idea many new designers have questions about copyright patents and trademarks and how to prevent someone stealing their concept this video scared of copycats covers my thoughts on the topic of course the general advice is don't worry too much about it you have so much to gain by showing off your prototype but there's Nuance to that argument and hopefully this video will help you may of course be nowhere near the stage of approaching Publishers maybe you just have a concept for a game lingering in your brain but you have no idea what to do next if so my video making your first board game is for you this one covers the basics of inspiration rapid prototyping and getting maximum Joy from the process and talking of prototyping I've made a number of videos on that topic if you want to know how to make a simple prototype you could watch bringing your game to life or my later video Essentials for making board game prototypes on a budget over the last year I was sponsored for a number of videos by a manufacturer launch tabletop with a print on demand service launch lab if you'd like to know about producing professional quality prototypes you might want to watch my videos making a board game like a pro leveling up your board game prototypes or making a Euro game Prototype perhaps you're new to all of this and you'd like to know more about the way the industry is set up with my video the board game industry start here should cover all the different entities and their interactions designers Publishers manufacturers Distributors retailers and more in the follow-up video how Co 19 changed the board game industry forever is still relevant in 2023 I also made a video way back in 2016 covering the history of the board game industry and of course a few things have developed since then but it's still a fascinating journey through centuries of board game design one of my earliest videos on board game design I've made a board game how do I make money from it is also one of my most viewed I think the advice in the video holds up though there's considerably more detail in later videos a key area that all board game designers need to fully understand is the process of play testing so this begins with solo tests on scraps of paper followed by tests with family and friends then a wider pool of strangers ideally some other designers and culminates with blind tests without yourself present my video inside play testing what it is why it matters and how to get started covers the process in some depth it's frequently said that you should run hundreds of play tests before pitching your game and I think in many cases this is unrealistic unnecessary and can be overwhelming for new designers so I've got some context in my video impostor syndrome and board game design how many play tests is enough my caraz on Parable for game designers is a particular favorite of mine it covers play tester feedback and how to choose which feedback to incorporate into your game and what to ignore and I think the video is pretty funny too once you've made your prototype and you've started testing you're going to need to write the rules ideally as early as possible and my video rule the game secrets to writing clear concise and compelling board game rule books might help you to do that once you have a game that you're happy with you might start thinking about its future are you going to pitch it to a publisher or are you going to attempt to publish it yourself usually by crowdfunding through gamefound or Kickstarter my video crowdfunding your board game discusses the pros and cons of both approaches personally I've always picked pitched my games to Publishers and I've never self-published I send emails shortly before the Essen Spiel convention in Germany requesting a meeting and that's where I make the majority of my pitches this year I managed to fit in 30 meetings all arranged in advance using the following approach my initial email always includes a cell sheet which is a single page of brief information about the game and a two-minute Sizzle reel a promotional video covering the basics of gameplay now I've made videos covering both topics s sheets when and how to use them and mastering the art of board game video reels and how do you decide who to approach well I got a video for that too how to choose the right publisher for your board game but you might also find some useful tips in my video cracking the code revealing what board game Publishers want in a game next step is the meeting itself you got 30 minutes or less to sell your game concept to a publisher so how should you approach it well I've pitched hundreds of times over the last decade and my video Pitch Perfect covers my thoughts on the process I followed this video with a sketch how not to pitch don't be this Sky which got more reactions than any other video I've made I think the sketch illustrates most of the errors I've seen designers make over the years and I still find the video amusing today developing great relationships with Publishers is key to continued success as a board game designer and I discussed my thoughts on this in my video the secrets of success in board game publishing nurture lasting relationships with Publishers building such relationships can result in working together again and again Zing aam is my third game released by brain games and I've also worked on three different titles with the happy puzzle company Zulan quizzle and the genius gems assuming your pitch meeting went well a publisher will spend some time testing your game and discussing with colleagues if things have gone really well they might even come back to you with the offer of a publishing contract I made five videos in 2020 to covering board game publishing contracts in detail they cover topics such as how much creative control you can retain as a designer how you get paid how you get your rights back when the publisher stops producing the game how expansions and sequels work and what your responsibilities are to the publisher now increasingly over the years I've moved away from designing Novelties and Curiosities I've stopped experimenting and started focusing on my intended audience at a much earlier stage in the process this is the core of design thinking my video how design thinking can revolutionize your board game creation lays out the basic concepts over subsequent videos I explore every aspect of product design I discuss a recipe for commercial hits on my video brilliant idea perfect execution I have a video about onboarding potential players with Rule books box covers and online presence and over a series of videos I explore the psychology of players what attracts customers what do they find engaging what do they want or need I discuss the Aesthetics of your board game design and practical considerations in my videos how to make a board game which demands attention and your board game needs to deliver probably the single most important aspect of board game design in this crowded Market is creating a strong hook to draw players and Publishers in I've made several videos about using this approach in one of my most View videos I make the case that Designer should stop treating Innovation as the be all and end all gradual iteration is far more accessible to most players because it brings familiarity and hence fewer barriers one of my videos is called what makes a great hook and it's a really good starting point for this approach my video why great games fail makes the case for positioning your game in the Market at a really early point in your design process to ensure that your project doesn't get ignored for a summary of all these product design videos I made a 30-minute presentation using product design principles to enhance your tabletop game and on all my videos I Tred to be as candid as possible about my own experiences both good and bad one video was particularly difficult to make in the video I designed a board game and it bombed I discussed the Journey of creating a game that I loved pitching it successfully and then the disappointment of receiving bad reviews and poor sales all because I never considered my audience when I designed the game pH so that is a huge number of videos about the design process and Industry approaches but the channel doesn't stop there I also love to explore mechanisms diving deep into the ways designers have used them and offering up prompts to new designers for different approaches to developing those games making these videos often Spurs ideas in my own mind by forensically exploring what's been done before I spot gaps in the market things which haven't yet been done or concepts I can turn on their head creating a brand new experience whatever stage you're at as a designer this channel has something to offer so please make sure to subscribe comment and share the videos widely so the channel can continue to grow it was extremely gratifying that so many of you came and said hi to me at Essence Spiel and earlier in the year at UK games Expo and told me about the various ways the channel has helped you in creating your own games I wish you every success with your future designs until next time all the best

Channel: Adam in Wales

Views: 12,921

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Id: LMQe6itGi3E

Length: 11min 36sec (696 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 13 2023