3 - Where does one start if they want to design a game?
First, a disclaimer: What I’m describing here is based on my experience with board games and how I design them; I haven’t formally studied game design. Naturally, this post isn’t enough to cover every detail.
An idea is extremely important at the beginning, and two different approaches have worked very well for me: Top-Down and Bottom-Up.
Top-Down
This method starts with the big picture. I have an image in my mind. I know what the game should look like and what it revolves around, and I have an idea of how the atmosphere during play should feel. From there, I think about how to turn this image into a game, considering which mechanics would fit the theme. In this approach, the game is built around the theme.
Bottom-Up
This method works in the opposite way. You start with a great idea for a mechanic and figure out what theme would best suit it. The game is built around the mechanic. (A simple example: I want to have characters with unique abilities, which are auctioned off using a specific bidding mechanic. The core mechanic is fixed and serves as the foundation of the game.) There will be a dedicated blog post about the Bottom-Up approach in the future.
For “Magical Friends,” the idea came during a role-playing session. I imagined the social Bard gathering friends around him, while the Mage sat in his tower summoning and controlling helpers. During a lively Magician’s get-together, the Bard overhears a conversation and turns it into a competition. This idea led to my board game, which followed the Top-Down approach.
Next, I had to figure out the following:
What do players do during the game? (Summon creatures—or “friends.”)
What is the objective of the game? (To bring the friends to the party.)
These questions create a framework for the mechanics. Additional questions for this framework include:
How long should the game last?
What player count should it accommodate?
Should it be cooperative or competitive?
How complex can the game be?
Should luck play a key role in the game?
Where does replayability come from?
What kind of feelings and atmosphere should emerge during gameplay?
Don't forget the intended game duration and player count.
For example, I wanted "Magical Friends" to create a gameplay experience similar to "Smallworld." Simple rules, where the fun comes from chaotic gameplay. Luck plays a minimal role, and replayability arises from the wide selection of races and abilities that are randomly combined. Based on this, I designed "Magical Friends" for a playtime of about 1 to 1.5 hours and for four players (with more players, it becomes challenging to keep the chaos under control). It’s intended to be competitive and not overly complex. Personally, I prefer games where luck only influences replayability, meaning less reliance on chance.
If I focused on the mechanics without considering these questions beforehand, it could happen that a player is drawn to a board game by its theme, but then the theme gets lost during gameplay, leading to disappointment. Creating this framework in advance is helpful for me to envision what my mechanics need to accomplish. For example, I could come up with a great mechanic that works well for four players but causes too much frustration for seven players.
Don’t forget the intended game duration and player count.
Only then do I consider the mechanics of the game. Are there perhaps different phases in the game? Do multiple mechanics interact with one another? If I come across a mechanic that allows more players to join without negatively impacting game duration or chaos, fantastic!
No matter which approach I’ve taken, I now have a clear vision of my game—a core framework composed of the theme and a primary mechanic (game loop). This framework can be explained to others in a way they can understand. Even if early prototypes have some elements that don’t work perfectly, you know the direction in which you want to proceed. There will be a separate blog post dedicated to prototypes.
What has changed since the first Kickstarter attempt on this topic:
I’ve often thought about how, with my next game, I would already consider the production of components during game design. Or, at least, I would think about special components. Game cards, dice, or chips are not particularly relevant. However, with "Magical Friends," I realized fairly early on that a distinctive feature of the game would be summoning many different creatures. What I didn’t realize was the amount of effort required to bring 50 different creatures into the game. I only gained this experience through creating prototypes and discussing them with manufacturers. As I reduced the amount of rounds played and increased the creature count, its possible to play the game with 5 players. Testing showed that 4 and 5 players are even the best player count to play.
In the Meantime also the story changed a little bit, altough its still similar, the bard has dropped and its a wizard and witch competition.
Please leave a comment if you have valuable insights to share about this point. I, and other readers, would surely appreciate it!
