Game Design Advice from the Best in the World
I’ve just finished the Game Design Advice from the Best in the World by Gabe Barrett.
Gabe runs the board game design lab, a podcast, newsletter, website and Facebook community, all of which I’ve found useful at various points. I listened to the book on audible which was a bit confusing given the structure of the information. I will however be ordering myself a hardcopy, and this will be a book I’ll go back to time and again. It was massively inspiring to hear over 140 game designers speak about their experiences and giving their best advice for other designers.
At its core the book presents the responses the designers gave to a series of twelve questions, you can read the set up for the book on the Board Game Design Lab website. While I don’t expect Gabe to reach out to me for my opinions anytime soon as I’m still in the midst of my journey, I thought it would be interesting to give my own answers to these questions, so here they are:
What is the game (or games) you’ve recommended most to fledgling game designers, and why?
My advice is play widely. Try lots of games and look out for the things that work well and that you enjoy. The top 100 on BGG showcases games that have a strong following and are highly rated - these are games to learn from.
What purchase of $50 or less has most positively impacted your game designing in the last year? This could be a tool, a book, an app, etc.
Affinity Publisher. Covering pretty much all the same functions as InDesign for a single fee as opposed to Adobe’s monthly one, this software has enabled me to improve the quality of and speed to create prototypes, sell sheets and rulebooks.
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours?
My first game features a deckbuilding mechanic where werewolves are seeded in your deck from the start. These werewolves damage you and your opponent when they are revealed. Initially they were far too destructive and the whole tableau building side to the game was destroyed as none of the villagers survived. I learnt very fast that initial designs are often broken and that its okay to take away the game and re-work it. The lesson to iterate and resolve issues with a design have already made my games so much better.
How do you know when to walk away from a design or at least put it on the shelf for a while?
Generally when my excitement starts to waver I will look for excuses to work on something else and a game will get shelved almost by accident. I have already learned however that the games you shelve aren’t a loss as they taught you things. I’ve already reused a mechanic developed in a game I‘ve shelved.
What do you do to get in the designing mindset? Do you have a ritual or certain process for getting into the “zone?”
I don’t really have a ritual or process and usually have enough to do when I’m ready to start designing. Making sure you have some way to capture ideas that come to you when you aren’t ready or able to work on them is a lesson I learned early and means I have quite the backlog of ideas I’m interested in developing.
What would you tell a designer that just experienced a really discouraging session of playtesting?
It depends on why it was discouraging. You shouldn’t be discouraged because people broke or didn’t enjoy your game, that’s exactly why we test and if that happened a lot you’ve just had a great test! It can be ego bruising, but its going to happen, especially with your early designs. The tests that I find discouraging are the ones where the reaction is Luke warm or apathetic, those make me want to scrap a game entirely. In either case though, step back, give the response time to settle and them look at the feedback once the sting has faded before deciding what to do next.
In the last three years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your game design skills?
Organising my file structures and workspace so that I know where everything (digital or physical) is has been a massive time saver, allowing me to spend more time on my designs and less searching.
If a friend of yours is about to sit down to pitch a game to a publisher, what are some tips you would tell him or her?
Start a relationship, don’t try to make a sale. Yes, be ready to give your twenty second speech, then your pitch, then an overview, but if the publisher tells you they’re not interested or the game isn’t right for them, respect them and don’t plow on regardless. Instead use the time you have to ask about what they’re looking for, what their process is and how you stay in touch.
What advice would you give to a smart, driven, fledgling game designer just now getting into game design? What advice should they ignore?
Remember its a small community and your reputation goes before you, so make sure its a good one. Think about if you want to self publish or find someone to publish your games, this will change the scope and nature of the work you need to do. Ignore anyone who tells you you’re not able to do this.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? (If helpful: What questions do you ask yourself?)
Usually this is a result of hitting a wall on a project, in that case switching projects often helps me regain my focus, but sometimes I just need to get away from everything and take a break. This could be a walk along the beach, watching a movie or spending time with my family.
What do you wish someone had told you before you got into designing board games?
Prototype as soon as you can and playtest, playtest, playtest!
What’s one of your core philosophies in terms of how you live your life, and how is it manifested in your game design?
I try not to set my own boundaries. When I hear someone say “I could never do that” I wonder if that’s actually true or if saying it is going to make it so. In my games I try to ensure players are in charge of their own destinies and though they may face difficulties and challenges they still are able to drive towards an objective and victory.
