People have been playing board games for hundreds of years. Whether it is simple chess or the more complex creations of today, the allure of these games has never faded. If you are thinking of a nice creative project for yourself, why not think about making your own board game? Here are some essential tips on what to do to make any idea you have into reality.
Learn More About Boardgames
One of the first things that you need to do is to learn more about current board games. A lot of people think of Monopoly or some of the older board games from the 20th century. But people’s tastes change and today’s games are a far cry from the simple games of old. It also doesn’t hurt if you know how to play the more abstract games out there like chess. You might also want to mix in card games. The best way to learn is to play them. Many local stores have gateway games that are excellent for introducing you to the concepts of modern play.
Try Out The Print-and-Play and Public Domain Ones
Besides buying games, you also want to have experience in building the various components of your board game. Fortunately, you can easily find a way to practice it. There is a healthy community of board game designers that release their games on the internet for free, with the only requirement that people will have to do the lion’s share of the work by printing them out and playing them. The great thing about this is that it will give you practice for later.
To start, you should be able to find a list of print-and-play games to start. Check them out and see what you think is within your ability to make. A lot of these games are simple card games so you will only need some heavy cardstock and a printer to start with. You might also need some tokens and dice, which should be easy to acquire online. The actual construction of these games should be easy. Most of it will be cutting and gluing. But you might also take the time how to learn to mount boards and even some lamination.
You can also try to make fancier versions of the public domain games out there. Imagine carving your own fancy chess set or something similar. You can make your wooden dice if you want to create a backgammon board. These are more complex since they are made of wood.
Experiment On Your Own
After playing a lot of games, you should have an idea of what mechanics there are in modern board games. This is where you start designing the actual game that you want to release. Game design may seem simple, but it can be hard if you want an original game. Most beginning designers copy elements from many existing games. This mixing and matching need experimentation, so you need to make a few prototypes to see what works.
Besides the game’s mechanics, you should also think about the sort of theme you want for the game. It will influence how the game will look and what mechanics will work with it. For example, if you’re making a game about World War II, you will probably focus on conflict mechanics more.
Make a Prototype And Do Testing
When you’ve finished up your initial design, it’s time to do some testing. Making a prototype should be simple since you don’t have to make it pretty just yet. Draw on index cards and some cardboard. You can also get some tokens for components. With the prototype, it is time to go out and do some testing. Wrangle some friends and acquaintances for a few sessions. You will immediately see the things wrong with the game once you start playing. It might be too complex, or the game is not fun enough. Ask for feedback, and you should go back and refine the game until you have a final product.
The Final Product
For the final game, you’ll want to make it look fancy. Good graphic design and art should be the foundation for it. You can easily design how the game will look with Photoshop. As for art, you can commission art, or you can use public domain works for illustration. You can also make the art yourself if you have the talent. Crafting the final board will put the skills you learned with the print-and-play games to the test, but it can be worth it.
Board games are a great project for anyone who wants to stretch their creative skills. It also provides a fun time when you are done. Whether you want to share the results with only your close friends or try to publish it commercially, it can be a great achievement to make one.
