Jack of Shadows

It is time for a little step back - or to the side - to talk about what you need to make a game, besides the idea and the time to prepare a prototype. Hardware I will presume that you have access to a computer. It really doesn't matter if it is an old, barely working machine - as long as it can run a word processor, and possibly some simple graphic software, you are covered. Apart from that, you will need a ruler, a hobby knife (mainly to cut cards and chits) and scissors. Pens, pencils, markers in various colors, loose sheets of paper and notebooks are also necessary, along with some glue. A printer, even a cheap one, is very useful; but if you don't have one, you can always resort to a print shop. Software At the very least, you'll need a word processor and a graphics program. Here's some suggestions: Free Software Word Processors: Libre Office is an excellent office ensemble. It is free, often updated and it has it all: word processor, spreadsheet, calc, and a simp...

I wrote about building prototypes quick and dirty. Now I am going to tell you why this is important. Your goal is to start playtesting as soon as possible. For this, the sooner your idea is in playable form (no matter how ugly), the better. But how do you organize playtesting? I organize playtesting in three phases. Here's how they run: Phase I: "Let's play a game I made!" In this phase you simply gather a handful of friends or family, sit at a table and play with them. There are a couple of things to keep in mind when you do this: Don't force people . This goes for every phase: if someone's not willing to play, they'll get bored, trail off and keep looking at their phones. On the other hand, if they are interested and they get bored, you'll have an indication that there's something wrong with the game. Be there . In this first phase, your presence is needed. You'll have to explain the game to your players, and be ready to clarify things in pla...

Making is the best part of learning, as they say. So, please allow me to propose you a very simple "homework" exercise to do over the weekend - or whenever you have time. Take the current project you are working on. Go to game-icons.net . Choose the icons that best represent the actions in your game, download them in a folder with the name of the project, and see if every action or rule is represented by an icon. Keep these icons for later, you will need them for the next homework! And most of all, have fun! 

There is one important thing that needs to be addressed, and that's what I call iconization . This is relevant for prototype creation, but it is something you have to think forward, and start working on it very early in the design phase. You must consider that, to be acceptable for an international audience, your game must be as language-independent as possible. This means that you should use as little written text as possible on the game components (card, board...). Instead, you should use icons . What's an icon? Let's define it for game purposes. An icon is a simple image that associates with an action or a rule. It must be simple, so it is easy to comprehend, and clear, so it is easy to distinguish from other icons. Let's make an example, taken from game-icons.net . This icon is a hand in the act of picking up a card with a question mark on it. Its meaning is easy to understand: "Draw a random card". The action will be written in the rulebook, but it will b...

  The first step, right after putting down your idea is, quite obviously, building a playable prototype. Now, if you are anything like me, you'll be tempted to create a beautiful prototype, with wonderful graphics and as professional a layout as you're capable to produce. Well.. Don't. Seriously, don't do it. I've been there: that way madness lies. Unless you consider a hobby making a prototype again, and again, and again. Because your first prototype will need changes, and they'll often be pretty major, at least in the early phases of development. So, the advice here is "make a prototype that you could throw in the bin without blinking". Here's some advice on what to do in the first phases of a prototype. Also, this is about physical prototypes - digital prototypes (as in Tabletop Simulator, Vassal, etc.) are for another day. KEEP YOUR FILES EDITABLE More than once, I made the mistake of writing things down, or preparing a bunch of cards, then sav...

Before diving in deep, let's try and understand the basics: what kind of creator are you? I decided to use the common playing cards we all know as a way to categorize the different types of designer, because everybody understands them and because, well, I think it is funny. And obviously I choose aces because hey, you're an ace, aren't you?  So, every kind of creator is represented by an ace. Let's see how. ACE OF HEARTS You have a full time job (yes, "student" is a full time job), possibly a family, and this takes almost all your time. Still, you have a passion and, obviously, an idea. You spend part of your free time on your project. The rest will be spent on other hobbies, going out with friends, family, love interests... you just do it when the fancy strikes you. Creating a game is not more important than your other pastimes, you just do it in between things. The Ace of Hearts is a Hobbyist . ACE OF CLUBS You are a passionate hobbyist. You may have a job, ...

So, I've been working in the tabletop games industry for almost 30 years, in one capacity or the other. I still do, today. In the past, the only ways you had to produce a game (be it a boardgame. a roleplaying game, a card game... Whatever) were to either pitch it to a publisher, or to have quite a bit of spending money, to get a relatively small print run made privately, in the hope of selling it. Maybe even starting your own publishing. Now things have changed a lot. There's many more publishers, to begin with, but - thanks to the web - it also became easier to self-publish. You can use a crowdfunding website, or put your game on a POD (Print on Demand) platform. And in all this, I see people doing more than a few errors, that critically impact on their success. These errors are mostly due to inexperience, so I decided to open this blog specifically to address these problems, and help people getting around of them. Because, what's the use of experience if you don't sh...