Mentoring ~ Benefits to Designers (Sharing)

I've miraculously had my game Laser Bounce selected for a playtesting event at PAX Australia (and scored a free pass along with it) so I will find out in October how it is perceived (or ignored) by the general gaming public. Up until now it's just been part of the BGG "one-card contest", from which I received some excellent and very constructive feedback from fellow contestants and also got some great ideas here on BGDF. I have a small gaming group who I'll be testing it with leading up to PAX AUS. I'll report on how that goes in coming weeks.

I think there is some merit to keeping the initial sharing of designs within a small circle, not for reasons of protecting the idea, but for getting that crucial early feedback and getting the game to a point where it's good enough for people to take an interest and to follow its progress. First impressions count for a lot. I wonder how many people revisit a game in development if it didn't interest them the first time?

Good topic, Professor. I have a few different items to share here.

Designer Groups
In the past several years when living near a big city, I'd been fortunate to cross paths with game designer groups. Their membership was comprised of both hobby designers like myself, as well as a number of professional designers. We would meet monthly, or sometimes several times a month (typically on weekends), for several hours at a time.

The amount of insight gained during these monthly/bi-weekly meetings was tremendous. Not only would you receive some critique and insight about your own designs, but you would also be invited to critically think and provide input on someone else's design. When you have the opportunity to be both a designer and a playtester in the same occasion, a tremendous amount of learning and progress can occur.

Over time, we'd also broadened our network and set up "designer's retreats," where we'd all chip in to rent a big house for a three-day-weekend or something like that, chip in for the food bill, and simply play and tinker with game designs throughout the day, evening, and morning. For the right kind of person, these kinds of events (and they were most definitely highlights in my calendar) proved tremendously useful and entertaining. You forward your own designs, and simultaneously build community.

Free Schools
Some larger cities have "free schools," public libraries, or community centers. This is a place where pretty much anyone can set up a one-time event or long-standing series of sessions, in order to facilitate whatever they might want. A big advantage of this would be that they had a classroom-sized space I could use, so I wouldn't worry about bringing people into my own home. Another advantage is that these kinds of places typically have their own website and/or promotional team that will help spread the word and increase participation.

In my case, I used the local Free School to consolidate the local "board game design scene," and in turn connect with other local designers to build a network of like-minded folks. In another instance, I reserved meeting rooms at a public library for the same purpose. I even had a long-running design event held in the game room of a local games/comics store. Of course, building community can provide you with more opportunities to hold events, so the more you do it, chances are the easier it will become.

An aspect of teaching and facilitating is that you also - even as a "teacher" - reinforce your own understanding of game design concepts and techniques. Setting up a recurring "game design workshop" may be an excellent way to hone your own skills and build the local scene.

Game Jams
Finally, in the past five years or so, there's been an explosion of interest in creating "analog" games in an arena typically-reserved for video games: the Game Jam. For those who don't know, these are typically online events where the goal is to create the first-draft of a game design. There's a theme or concept typically introduced, along with a specific time limit: usually a weekend, or two weeks, or something along those lines. Though some are longer, the usual tactic for these is to capitalize on the "inspiration of the moment," so a short time frame and set of various design restrictions (such as: only cards and dice, or a specific genre like "cooperative games" or "one-page RPGs") are introduced.

For many years I'd participated in the Global Game Jam (a worldwide, annual event), and in the past few I'd personally seen more and more analog/tabletop games presented. I'd also created a couple tabletop games for game jams hosted over at itch.io . I'm sure there are plenty more, but those are two places I'd start were I to be involved again.

Hopefully these are useful suggestions...! Game design is a great thing, and surrounding oneself with fellow game designers and enthusiasts can help you stay involved, make friends and build a designer network, and become better at the process.