I’ve been playing board games for 10 years and I have an idea for a game. It’s an engine builder with a nature theme (think Gloomhaven meets Brass: Birmingham).
Problem: I have zero design experience. Where do I actually start? Do I need to learn graphic design? Should I prototype in Tabletop Simulator first? Is there a community for aspiring designers?
Any designers here who can share their journey?
Start with paper. Seriously. Index cards, markers, and poker chips. Your first 50 prototypes will be ugly and that's fine. Design is iteration.
r/boardgamedesign and the Board Game Design Lab podcast are great resources. Also, playtest with strangers ASAP. Friends are too nice.
Read "Kobold Guide to Board Game Design" — it's written by actual published designers and covers everything from ideation to pitching to publishers.
One piece of advice: start with the FEELING you want players to have, not the mechanics. "I want players to feel the tension of managing a fragile ecosystem" is a better starting point than "I want a worker placement game."
Join the conversation
Subscribe to post