Considerations when making a board/card game

I'm a big fan of starting completely from scratch and this has been most apparent when I finally started making a game that is now going to be released.

I know most of us here understand what "scratch" means...but do you?

Usually when making a game, it's either "Wouldn't it be cool if...?" or some inspiration brought on by a cool mechanic you've seen displayed in another game. Most will just run with that, but to me, starting from scratch means I gotta so a little planning.

Here are some considerations when making a board game:

Number of players: It's important that you solidify the number of players. The more rigid the number, the easier it is to build around it. The wider the number, the more you have to account for and the more varied the results, which ultimately you need to be able to control with your game design. While solidifying a number may seem restrictive, it can save you a lot of hassle, especially in terms of testing time. You cannot just assume that because it works for 3 players, it will work with 4. The dynamics change, the human element increases the amount of possibilities. Everything has to be tested.

Light or Deep game: There's a huge trend in games with deep gameplay. While it may be tempting to just start with that kind of game in mind, note that a deeper game requires exponentially more development. Many just don't know how much it really takes to make a game like Arkham Horror. The deeper the game the more you have to map out every possibility to make sure your game works. Again, you can't assume that just because it worked a few times doesn't mean it's going to work that way every time. Creating a more lighter game not only challenges your sense of space, it also is easier and faster to test and the more you test, the more polished a game gets.

Time it takes to play: If your game takes 3-4 hours, it's most likely a deep game. Either that or your trying to make some Monopoly roll-and-move derivative or some other form of torture. If every game takes 3-4 hours, set your schedule to playtest this game or a long time...at least if you want to explore every possibility and have a good game when it releases. When I made my game, I wanted a very specific target time: 30min-1 hour. When some of my games lasted 3+ hours, changes needed to be made. You should have a target time in which your game can be played. It will help you focus on what extends the game and what shortens the game.

Rules length: If you're going for a light game that takes on a large number of people, be prepared to use very simple rules. It's easy to lose people when you're trying to teach group of 10+ people rules for something like Battlestar Galactica...heck, it's hard enough to reign in 6 new people to play. If your'e making a deep game, be sure that all the rules are clear and concise. Nothing can break the game more easily than misread rules. Communication is super important. Just because you believe the rules work doesn't mean it communicates effectively. Do blind playtests. Watch someone try and figure out your game without you saying a word. You'll learn so much about the way your communicate through your rules. Again, you can't assume that you'll get it right the first time. In fact, you'll most likely need at least 3 revisions of your rules just to communicate to the widest number of people.

Design: So many people overlook this. Simple design. Things like contrast, color, placement, iconography, grammar, spelling, and font play a vital role in your game. I always see things like fancy fonts that are hard to read, font colors on similar color backgrounds (green text on green background, or some variance), important numbers that are just too hard to read because the designer has so much information they need to put on the card, art that doesn't reflect the ability of the card or board, misspelled or bad grammar, etc. Sometimes...scratch that, MANY times we have to forego fancy for just simple readability. Just because you can read it and see it, doesn't mean another person won't mistake it for a flying penis (no joke). Seriously, ask others to look at it. The more people look at it, and they see what you see, the more other people will see the same thing.

Remember, if the player doesn't get your design, it's YOUR fault for not communicating it effectively. This is not fine art, you WANT people to see your vision, so you have to be sure you communicate that effectively.

The bottom line is that the more you solidify what you're looking for in a game, the easier it is to plan how you're going to make your game successful and the easier it is to find bugs and fix them. Note that the more you want to put in your game, the more it will take to "cook" Don't assume. I repeat: DON'T ASSUME. Don't underestimate the human factor. Test with as many people as possible.

Go and make games.