The Trial and Error of Game Design

September 17, 2024

What a wild few weeks this has been! Between getting through the first quarter of the semester and having a social life it has been a crazy time but that is not the purpose of this post I would like to talk about the things I have learned in the realm of game design. Over the last several months I have been working to create a card game. It was for the party game Mafia which is normally played with a plain deck of bicycle cards but can be challenging when people don’t know what the cards mean or how to play. I decided that I wanted to change that. I spent a lot of time designing and creating the cards, box, instructions and tips for how to play. I have thought a lot about game design and balancing a lot during this process. I often wondered what it would be like to come up with a game from scratch.

Well, I didn’t have to wonder for long because I decided to take on the challenge as class project the semester! Since coming up the idea and approving it with my teacher I have done a lot of research and learned what it takes to make a board game. The main tip I have recieved is this. “Play test! Play test! Play test!” The key is to work out the mechanics and make sure the game is fun before designing the pieces, board, and cards.

Another tip I was given is to not be to attached to mechanics that aren’t working. I have already experienced this, there was a mechanic that I really liked but it made the game confusing and not as fun. I tried to force it to work but based on the feedback I was given I eventually had to cut it out entirely. I was bummed at first but I found the next play test went much smoother because that one mechanic was removed.

These two projects have had a serious learning curve but I am having so much fun experimenting and play testing. I will say however my favorite part of this whole process is seeing how excited my friends are about the games I am creating. That and that alone is what keeps me going.