Game devs talk design methods, system mechanics in design summit
Game Developer
MARCH 13, 2023
For anyone with an interest in game design, Polaris' developer summit has different articles covering various aspects of design development.
Dev Game Designer Mechanics 
Solo dev Tomasz Kaye: “ChatGPT massively sped up the development of Axe Ghost”
PreMortem.Games
OCTOBER 2, 2024
“It wasn’t exactly a deliberate choice,” he explains, “I had a small game idea that I wanted to finish and publish, and it seemed doable alone.” What started as a simple concept quickly turned into a game that challenges players with a mix of strategic depth and risk-reward mechanics. What’s your creative process? ‘My
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Theme vs. Mechanics
Brand Game Development
NOVEMBER 28, 2016
“Theme-first or mechanics-first” might be the most asked “big question” in the board game community. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Theme and mechanics are inseparable parts of board games as a whole.
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How To Know When to Pivot on Your Board Game Design
Brand Game Development
JUNE 29, 2020
A couple of months ago, I asked the readers of this blog to send in answers to the question “ what confuses you most about board game development ?” ” I got a lot of responses, and two of them were about knowing when to pivot during a game design project. Need help on your board game?
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How to Design the Mechanics of Your Board Game
Brand Game Development
NOVEMBER 20, 2017
Board game development is a very individual process. Every single developer has different methods for creating their games. This article is the third of a 19-part suite on board game design and development. Need help on your board game? Game mechanics are how we bring the core engine of a game to life.
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4 Lessons from Imhotep for Aspiring Board Game Designers
Brand Game Development
JUNE 1, 2020
Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Like many board games, Imhotep has a lot to teach board game designers. It’s all pretty straightforward euro fare at this point, but one mechanic stands out to me as being incredibly profound.
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6 Reasons Escape Rooms Will Make You a Better Board Game Designer
Brand Game Development
NOVEMBER 25, 2019
Escape Rooms will make you a better board game designer. This is partly because Escape Rooms are everything that board games aspire to be – complex problem-solving games that appeal to a wide audience and provide a remarkable physical experience. Board games often run the risk of having themes that feel pasted-on.
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4 Lessons from Quacks of Quedlinburg for Aspiring Board Game Designers
Brand Game Development
JANUARY 27, 2020
Aspiring board game designers should take note of how the name and the theme tear down barriers that would otherwise keep would-be-gamers out of gaming. Not everybody is into this kind of mechanic and many find it to be unsatisfying. Mitigate push-your-luck with a good catch-up mechanic. Final Thoughts.
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Board Game Designer vs. Developer vs. Publisher
Brand Game Development
DECEMBER 17, 2018
The simple fact is that there are a lot of distinct tasks that have to be handled to turn a game from an idea into reality. This is why I urge each new board game designer to share the workload , delegating tasks to a team instead of doing them all alone. Need help on your board game? Designers make the game’s soul.
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Top 7 Game Dev Myths Explored
DameDev.tv
DECEMBER 16, 2022
as we explore the top 7 game dev myths Laurie (Avocado Fire) joins Rick Davidson & Tim Ruswick* to discuss these 7 game dev myths and address any concerns that you have. He's done it all, from Game Designer, Producer, Creative Director and Executive Producer to GameDev.tv's
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How to Play-Test the Mechanics of Your Board Game
Brand Game Development
NOVEMBER 27, 2017
Board game development is a very individual process. Every single developer has different methods for creating their games. This article is the fourth of a 19-part suite on board game design and development. Need help on your board game? This guide comes in three parts: How do you test game mechanics?
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5 Lessons from Catan for Aspiring Board Game Designers
Brand Game Development
JANUARY 7, 2019
The least intuitive mechanic is probably the robber who steals resource cards from other players when you roll a 7, and to be honest, you remember it when the number is rolled simply because 7 does not appear anywhere on the board. Resist simple zero-sum mechanics to create a more interesting game. The point is: cut the fluff.
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4 Lessons from Everdell for Aspiring Board Game Designers
Brand Game Development
OCTOBER 28, 2019
There is a reason this mechanic is present in many BGG Top 100 Games such as Viticulture , Caverna , A Feast for Odin , and Agricola. Sometime around 2018, I did a major poll asking people what their favorite themes and mechanics were. 3-D components are a gimmick, but they helped the game draw attention.
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10 Elements of Good Game Design
Brand Game Development
FEBRUARY 17, 2020
If you can use an algorithm to solve your game like a Rubik’s cube, you need more surprise. one place I’ve encouraged surprise is the facedown card mechanic. Tasty Humans is about monsters fighting humans instead of the other way around, which gets a sick laugh out of everybody who sees the game. In War Co. ,
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4 Lessons from Sagrada for Aspiring Board Game Designers
Brand Game Development
JANUARY 28, 2019
Chance elements are valuable in game design because they keep games from being “solved” in the same way that chess – a perfect information, zero luck game – ultimately was. Take note, aspiring game designers! This is arguably one of the worst feelings that a game can give you.
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Make a Board Game in 28 Days: A Challenge by Brandon the Game Dev
Brand Game Development
FEBRUARY 1, 2021
Today, I have a challenge for you as a board game designer. I want to see you make a board game in 28 days. That’s why I’ve provided a 28-day game design challenge for you. This 28-day challenge is intended to give you the structure needed to get into the habit of board game design.
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7 Lessons from Monopoly for Aspiring Board Game Designers
Brand Game Development
MARCH 9, 2020
.” Besides, when we – as gamers and game developers – put aside our frustration for a moment, we can actually see Monopoly for what it is: a solid concept with bad execution. There are a lot of questionable game design decisions that, if corrected, could have made for a fantastic game.
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Dev Diary: 03/31/17
Brand Game Development
MARCH 31, 2017
Also, the game doesn’t have a defined win condition yet. Some game designers – and I count myself among them – consider to be win conditions pretty important to games. I’ve pushed a rough version of the game out to Tabletop Simulator for my use only.
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20 New Year’s Resolutions for Board Game Devs in 2020
Brand Game Development
DECEMBER 30, 2019
Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. 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. Play-test with game designers. Let’s say you’ve made light games.
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4 Lessons from Spirit Island for Aspiring Board Game Designers
Brand Game Development
JANUARY 13, 2020
The default mode for most board games competitive. Sure, cooperative play is not exactly some exotic unseen mechanic too. You have Pandemic , the Forbidden games, Mysterium , Elder Sign , and many other great games. Lastly, the variable player powers are balanced in such a way that the game stays fresh for a long time!
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Kyzrati’s Game Design Philosophy
Grid Sage Games
MAY 8, 2022
That’s just the core mechanic, and about the smallest vision you can have (which is actually what I recommend when starting to build a roguelike ), though even then my vision included an immersive interface and using sensor data to help navigate a living world occupied by both hostile and non-hostile robots. Difficulty.
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Navigating the layers of hell: How Oppolyon Studio built their debut game Ascending Inferno
PreMortem.Games
OCTOBER 25, 2024
It’s a brutal journey of persistence, frustration, and constant restarts, where the stakes are as emotional as they are mechanical. As first-time indie developers, their journey mirrors the very game they’ve crafted. Internal debate The development of Ascending Inferno wasn’t just about embracing punishing mechanics though.
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“Game critics” often talk about putting critical plot points in DLC, and then when they describe the story in said DLC it’s clear that the original game’s story works perfectly fine without them. But that makes me wonder where the story in the DLCs came from. Is it usually a cut-for-time-or-budget thing, like other early DLC? Ideas that came later (and if so, how much does player feedback affect things)? Ideas that the devs wanted to work in, but that would just clutter the original narrative?
Ask a Game Dev
DECEMBER 27, 2023
for example, if there’s some sort of new unifying game mechanic in the DLC or expansion (think artifact weapons in WoW Legion), we may need to build content around that new mechanic and old stuff might take too much effort to repurpose.
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Out Now • Solo dev Pat Naoum of the handpainted The Master’s Pupil: “Creativity is a tool”
PreMortem.Games
AUGUST 9, 2023
Is this mechanic fun? As I mentioned, this being my first game, I was learning not only how to game develop but also the language of game design. I feel now I’m a better game designer, because I had the time and space to work on it solo.” Pat Naoum: “Game development takes so long!”
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Solo dev Pat Naoum of the handpainted The Master’s Pupil: “Creativity is a tool”
PreMortem.Games
FEBRUARY 13, 2023
Is this mechanic fun? As I mentioned, this being my first game, I was learning not only how to game develop but also the language of game design. Pat Naoum: “Game development takes so long!” Game development takes so long! It’s interesting that so many devs say that.
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Describe “depth” in a video game. In a general sense. What have you come to learn makes a video feel deep mechanically?
Ask a Game Dev
OCTOBER 25, 2023
Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr Frequent Questions: The FAQ Join us on Discord ] and/or [ Support us on Patreon ] Got a burning question you want answered?
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Rablo Games: From solo developer to team collaboration on Necro Story
PreMortem.Games
SEPTEMBER 26, 2024
. “Initially, I planned to develop it alone, just like my previous game.” ” But as is often the case, plans change, and the solo dev path transformed into a collaborative journey. Six months into development, Coma accepted a job at Appeal Studios as a game designer, eventually becoming a game director.
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Do you have any tips on making enemy factions feel different to fight against, without spending too much designer and programmer time making full sets of different abilities for each faction? For context, I’m working on a cyberpunk brawler with 3 major enemy factions (corp, gang, cop).
Ask a Game Dev
MARCH 5, 2024
Starcraft, for example, had all Zerg units regenerate, all Protoss have a combination of shields and health, and Terrans have a mix of organic (healable) units and mechanical (repairable) units. To do this, think about what makes a Corp and try to capture that in gameplay mechanics. Your faction abilities should be similar.
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Kazakhstan-based Goodwin Games takes us on an emotional adventure in Selfloss
PreMortem.Games
OCTOBER 28, 2024
The control mechanics are integral to the gameplay, allowing players to operate Kazimir and his staff both together and independently. The way you control the old man and the magical staff at the same time is a neat mechanic that I am proud of,” Khoroshavin says.
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A Crash Course in Board Game Development
Brand Game Development
SEPTEMBER 9, 2019
Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. I tend to use the word game development as a catch-all term for everything that is associated with making a game – that includes game design, product development, marketing, promotion, Kickstarter/crowdfunding, fulfillment, and selling.
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Daily Missions in Puzzles: Why should we see them more often?
Deconstructor of Fun
SEPTEMBER 23, 2024
Written by Ahmetcan Demirel , the maestro of product management and a podcast host ( Game Dev Diary ) from Germany! With a knack for puzzles, arcades, and simulation games. These daily missions do more than just offer rewards; they serve as an "appointment mechanic" that encourages habitual engagement.
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How to Make Board Game Rules
Brand Game Development
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019
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. Need help on your board game? 14 Rules for Board Game Rules. Playtest a Ton.
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The importance of a game design document & how to create one – part 1
The Knights of Unity
FEBRUARY 5, 2021
In the first one, we will list the most important reasons why you should create at least an outline of the fundamental features and mechanics you want to have your game. Another reason why you should take your time to create a game design document for your internal project is the fact that you will probably work on it within a team.
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How Many Blind Play-Tests Does Your Board Game *Really* Need?
Brand Game Development
DECEMBER 22, 2017
Dev Diary posts are made to teach game development through specific examples from my latest project: Highways & Byways. I even blind play-tested it at a game design convention. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Click here.
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How to Design the Core Engine of Your Board Game
Brand Game Development
NOVEMBER 6, 2017
This article is the first of a 19-part suite on board game design and development. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. The basic idea is that board games are a means of communication that facilitate gameplay. That’s no accident.
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Design Principles: Crafting Interesting Choices, part 2
Ask a Game Dev
AUGUST 22, 2024
However, I don’t want to leave things too abstract - game design is about taking an idea and translating it into real game rules and mechanics. Today, I’ll go into some more specific implementation principles that designers can use while crafting their choices in order to get the player thinking.
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Why do so many FPS games now have “inspect” animations for the guns? It seems like a lot of animation effort into a pretty niche feature that does not directly impact the gameplay.
Ask a Game Dev
FEBRUARY 28, 2023
ALT Being able to look at the details of the various different weapons in the game also make the world feel more real and lived-in. For the second major reason, I should point out that one important principle of game design is that acknowledging the choices a player makes within the game helps make those choices feel more real to the player.
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How to Build up a Facebook Page as a Board Game Dev
Brand Game Development
APRIL 23, 2018
Much like my old staple How to Get Big on Twitter as a Board Game Dev , I’ll be covering everything you need to know to get started on Facebook as a board game developer. New game devs: don’t write off Facebook because it’s expensive. Make advertisements for a few different game ideas you have.
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Cult Of The Lamb With Yasmin Curren
DameDev.tv
SEPTEMBER 29, 2022
Industry veterans Rick Davidson & Tim Ruswick* are joined by Yasmin Curren, to play Cult Of The Lamb and discuss the gameplay mechanics and features of the game and what it means to be a technical designer. She’s an enthusiastic storyteller, game designer and content creator.
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Experiencing A Story
DameDev.tv
NOVEMBER 14, 2022
In this Livecast they talk about the story in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and Cloudpunk amongst other topics related to storytelling in video games. Rick has more than 14 years experience in the game dev industry, working on IP's that include Mario, Transformers, Captain America and Mortal Kombat.
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How to Choose Your Board Game’s Theme
Brand Game Development
SEPTEMBER 11, 2017
Board games can be about all sorts of things. Games, at their core, might just be a series of mechanics and rules, but themes keep us from feeling like we’re playing out the logical conclusion of mathematical functions. Need help on your board game? What you’re going for is Theme-Mechanic Unity.
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Why Gamification Makes Everything Else More Fun
Brand Game Development
JUNE 3, 2019
For that reason, I’ve brought in Sean Fallon, Founder & CEO of Smunchy Games and User Experience (UX) Designer extraordinaire. By looking at game design from this new angle, we hope to help you understand why board games are so playable and what that means for other aspects of our lives. What’s the point?
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Art for Art’s Sake…Sometimes It’s Not Just Business
Brand Game Development
JULY 14, 2017
Dev Diary posts are made to teach game development through specific examples from my latest project: Highways & Byways. I talk a lot about the business side of board game creation. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators.
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How to Create a Pattern Building Board Game (Tasty Humans Pt. 1)
Brand Game Development
JUNE 25, 2019
These titles earned – and keep – respect in the hobby gaming community. Like with all things in board game design, there is no linear path. You meander through the game design process, iterating and tweaking your work until you’re happy with it. 1) appeared first on Brandon the Game Dev.
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