7 Traits of a Highly Effective Boardgame Designer

I wrote this article because it was bugging me when I thought about the following questions:

What makes someone good at designing boardgames? and, what separates the good from the truly great?

By organizing my thoughts into 7 definable traits - it helped me to clarify my thoughts and this is what I came up with. I wanted to keep this as brief as possible and still convey my message. I am interested in hearing any feedback you might have.

The 7 Traits of a Highly Effective Boardgame Designer

There are quite a few of us on BGDF and new people joining everyday that have an interest in game design and are actually taking the plunge in an attempt to create their own games. As with anything in life, a majority of us will not be successful in actually having a game published or will just be content with creating games just for playing with friends. This got me thinking. What does it really take in order to design a game that will be worthy of eventually being published and released to the public? Also, what does it take to design an exceptional game and not just merely a publishable game that will get lost in the crowd?

Creating a boardgame is not an easy task. Unlike professions such as novel writer, artist, or computer programmer, there is not one specific set of skills that you need to be successful. The boardgame designer must be able to be both analytical AND see the big picture which is something most people can't do – you are either good at one or the other. A boardgame designer has to think about the mechanics of the game (how the game plays), the graphical design of the game (how the game looks), and how the mechanics and theme mesh together to create an experience that both makes sense and is fun to play.

I have been involved with game design for about 2 years now and I still have a lot to learn. However, I think I have a handle on what it takes to be a highly effective game designer. If you want to be a game designer, you must possess most if not all of these traits to a large degree:

1) Creativity/Originality – The first step in possessing this trait is to have creative ideas. This already disqualifies a large majority of the population who don't have the capacity or desire to think creatively. Once a would-be designer has an idea, their first mistake is that they think that this idea will magically translate into a playable and fun gaming experience. This couldn't be further from the truth as ideas are a dime a dozen in game design. The creative process must continue on through the initial stages of setting up the theme and mechanics of the game. Once the idea has been fleshed out into an actual set of rules and components, the designer must also make sure that his game design is original and not completely derivative of other existing games. A good knowledge of existing games and mechanics used obviously goes a long way in helping someone to not identically reproduce an already established game.

Ok, so you had some creative ideas in designing a board game, you have the basic theme and mechanics set up, and they appear to make sense. What next?

2) Analytical Reasoning – An effective game designer must be highly detailed-oriented and be able to think analytically. A designer must also be able to see relationships between the rule set and how it will play out in varying situations. Without this focus for detail – your final result will either be overly simplistic or one fraught with problems. Thinking analytically will aid a designer in knowing how to organize rules, balance the different aspects of the game, understand how turn order effects the game, and understand how all of the parts of the game fit together into a coherent whole. Organization skills go hand in hand with this trait and aid the designer in being able to categorize his thoughts and design decisions in a logical fashion.

This trait is VERY important, especially for heavier highly strategic games and slightly less important for lighter card or party games. With both creativity and an analytical approach to design, a would-be designer has the basic building blocks in designing a playable game.

3) Vision (The Big Picture) – Having a vision is like having a guidepost in sight that you are trying to reach: an overall goal for your game design. Is your game supposed to be a light quick filler type game or a deep strategic brain burner? Different types of games require different types of design and without a clear vision of what your game will be -you will find it very difficult to define a direction and stick with it. Having good vision also helps a designer to foresee potential outcomes of design changes and helps them choose the best way to proceed when faced with multiple alternatives. Without a vision, a would-be designer may design a workable game, play it with friends, but not know what to do with it. The game may either lack depth or may bog down with too many rules. If no thought was given to the end product or the potential audience, the game designer will likely be left with a playable but un-publishable game.

Ok, you now have a clear vision of what your game should be, but how do you get there?

4) Persistence – A game designer must possess a certain persistence to propel them to work on their game design when they hit a wall. And trust me; you will hit several walls in pursuit of a quality game design. Being able to let design issues simmer for a while until you figure out a way to fix them and then being able to pick right up where you left off, is definitely a good trait to have. Without a strong desire to continue, you will most likely give up when things get too tough or a playtest blows up in your face. With concern to playtesting, a good designer must be able to take criticism, learn from it, and become a better designer for it. A certain thickness of skin is needed; taking criticism too personally will not lead to an improved design.

You have hit some walls and you have found ways to break through them. You have playtested your design several times and your game design is slowly improving.

5) Patience – Being patient with your design and yourself is of utmost importance in game designing. An impatient designer will attempt to rush their ideas to playtesters, and worse still - to publishers, before their design is ready. How will you know when your game is ready for testing? A design is ready for playtesting if you have the rules completely written out; all components are ready, and you maybe even tried a few solo tests if possible. Every potential issue that could come up cannot be addressed before playtesting (as that is what the purpose of playtesting is) - to see how the game works in real-time.

There is no such thing as playtesting a game too much. Every playtest session is a valuable tool in deciding what to do with the design. You might not being getting the full benefit of playtesting, but that has to do with Trait #6. Once you are completely satisfied with the design and you stop making changes to the rules (if you get that far), you should still continue playtesting to make sure the game works well for all number of players it was designed for and to check for balancing issues.

You have exhibited a great deal of patience and have playtested the game several times. Is your game ready for publication? Well, maybe, but two additional traits may aid in making your game design rise above good to exceptional status.

6) Flexibility – Being flexible will allow you to get the full benefit from your playtesting sessions. If you have too rigid of a view of what your game should be – you could be trying to cram a square peg in a round hole. Listen to what your playtesters have to say – they will be the ones playing the game when it reaches its final state, so they better like how it turns out. On the other hand, you have to have some backbone and not cave to every wish of the playtesters. As you will find, each playtester will have his own personal tastes and it is up to the game designer to determine if the changes proposed are just personal preference or an actual change that will improve the design greatly.

You have responded to your playtesters suggestions and been able to separate the really good suggestions from just personal preferences. Now, is the game good enough to be published yet? The answer may be yes or may be no – it depends to what degree you possess the 6 traits and were able to convey them in the design. One more trait will help in improving the odds of getting a game published.

7) Communication/Writing Skills – Having good communication skills allows for a designer to communicate his overall purpose for designing the game as well as convey the rules in an easy to understand but thorough manner to playtesters as well as potential publishers. It will make playtesting go more smoothly and maximize its benefits. It will help in conveying the message to publishers that you have an exceptional game and one that they can't possibly pass up publishing. Good writing skills are essential in that it will help you to write a coherent and organized rule set that encompasses all of the rules of the game without being redundant or confusing. A high-quality rulebook increases your chances of publishers taking your game seriously.

That's it! The 7 traits of a highly effective boardgame designer. If you are strong in all 7 traits, you could be the next Knizia! What are you waiting for? On the other hand, if you are lacking in any department, you will have to try extra hard to improve. If you are sorely lacking in several traits, then game design might just not be your forte.