Years ago I was wondering what else I could do with my game design skills. Reviewing commercial games was an idea, but another one just came in tonight. One of the reasons I started to design board games is because I could easily see flaws in games. I also know that game design is about experience. Seeing practical problems and solutions can make you a better designer.
So I was thinking, why not making a kind of blog where I document game flaws. It could be a game or a mechanic. It could be commercial games or prototypes I tested. I could be video games or board games.
The idea would be to explain the problem, try to demonstrate why it's a problem. Explains situation when to use or no use those mechanics. Give alternate solutions or variations. It would be similar to some design articles I wrote years ago but focused on flaws.
Do you think that could be useful?
Well one thing I learned with the pandemic is that it's hard to convince somebody of anything especially when they think the opposite. So from one point of view, by doing such game design flaw analysis, I am indirectly trying to convince people that there is a flaw, which might not be apparent to others. Some might even not consider it as a flaw.
So as people said on BGG, there could be a lot of objections to what I consider a flaw. Some might even consider it a feature and part of the design goals. It's frustrating, because I always find it rewarding to share experience and knowledge, but people might not be willing to receive it.
So I guess applying my experience and knowledge seems more productive than trying to convince people to learn from my experience and knowledge. If I complete something meaningful (like a game), at least I'll have the proof that my theory works.