Can I be as interesting as I hope my games will be?

Matt,

Glad you found your way out here. There are many different fora, so dive in and start reading from those, like you, who have a similar passion. If you've got a particular talent, please share it with the group. As a point of shared introduction, I had served as a proofreader/editor on a couple of games; moved to play-testing and providing more formal feedback a few years later; and most recently became a published game designer, now with two titles under my belt. I'll tell you this, it's a lot of work...some of it can be quite fun, but there are other parts which you'll need all of you passion to see you through to the other side.

Again, welcome and we look forward to sharing our experiences.

Cheers,
Joe

Something I forgot to mention earlier...do your homework. My academic background is in history, international relations, and economics. To that end, you only begin to write on the subject matter once you know what came before you. Thus, you're probably not going to break new ground in the gaming industry vis-a-vis new mechanics. Even very good games such as Scythe and Gloomhaven use well-established mechanics, but in a new and fresh way. To that end, make sure you play a ton of games, especially in the space that you're trying to find a niche.

I'll use my own game, TAU CETI, as an example. When I joined the design team, the first thing I did was review BGG (a great resource for 75K different games; if you're not out there, you're doing yourself a disservice) for all space games, focusing on those with a 4X moniker. While more than three dozen titles came back from the search, I wasn't interested in the ones ranked below 5,000 or had convoluted systems. That left me with about a dozen games...very reasonable for me to begin further research.

From there, I got my hands on all of the rules and read them cover to cover. What did these games bring to the game space (no pun intended). How did the game/did the game involve combat, economics/trade, politics, etc? What makes Twilight Imperium (TI3) different from Eclipse? How does Space Empires 4X give the player a completely different feel from other games? Ask yourself questions about the existing games to better define what you want to do with your game. Again, research is vital, but so to is playing games. Reading about mountain climbing in no way gives you the same exhilaration as actually mountain climbing. To that end, you can't experience a game without playing it.

Case in point...Mars was and is a great theme for games in the 2016-2017 timeframe with nearly a half dozen titles hitting the shelves in an 18-month period. I'll pick on two for a moment. Terraforming Mars has a lot of love from a number of players and while I can appreciate what the game does (or at least tries to do), my experience left me with the sense that I was spending far too much time fiddling with cubes and not nearly enough time and energy on Mars. Contrast that with Martians: A Story of Civilization. In that game, I'm on Mars and if we don't provide our Colonists with enough food and oxygen; rid ourselves of disease; and perform the hard work of building the necessary facilities to sustain life...we will die. Wow! What a fundamentally different experience.

Which leads me to my last point. What is the experience you want your players to have. This has almost nothing to do with length of play, mechanics, components, or myriad other tangible aspects of your game. What do you want your players to feel while they're playing the game and after it ends? I"ll give you an example from my own experience. I've played TI3 more than two dozen times and without a doubt, I feel exhausted when it's over. An 8+ hour game will do that. Generally, however, the protracted length time was punctuated with the occasional raucous laughter as a Nebula completely destroyed someone's fleet or a long-awaited combat finally took place. But, generally, it's exhaustion. I don't think Christian Petersen set out to exhaust his players, but a game of that length will do that to them. Thus, start with the experience and build everything else on that experience. If a mechanic or component doesn't support or invest that experience...get rid of it.

In summary, conduct your research (review the literature); play many, many games, especially those in your genre/theme; and think hard about the experience you want to provide your players.

Cheers,
Joe

Hello Matt... Welcome to BGDF.com. As I said in the title to my comment, Game Design is a "process". It's something you need to practice on and not only rely on momentary inspiration. The Design Ideas we all get as Game Designers are ... well just ideas. An transforming an idea into a completed Game ... is a very challenging road to travel.

You of course seem to know that... Having invested 3+ years in one concept which may be your most advance design.

I, personally, have been working on TradeWorlds since June 2013, so almost 8 years in the making. Quite the endeavor. But you clearly seem to have a focus and understand that it is demanding to think about solutions to the various challenges you have yet to conquer.

Glad you've chosen to "get your toes wet" and step into the giant pool of Game Design. It really is that much variety... Enjoy your stay!

Kristopher
Aka QuestCCG
"Indie" Game Designer
BGDF Moderator/Administrator