Whether you are designing a fun game for your friends or family, or you are interested in moving forward and pitching a game design to a major company, you will find that designing a board game can be an excellent challenge and test of your abilities. When you want to make sure that you can design the best board game that you can, and when you want to make sure that you are creating a game that will entertain everyone, take some time to look at these important points.
Know your audience. A game that is intended for those in their twenties will not be the same as a game intended for six and seven year olds. But it is even deeper than that. The classic board games usually appeal to everyone of all ages, such as games like Clue and Monopoly.
How specific of a target do you want your game to have? There are great games that are intentionally designed for horror fans or for fans of improvisational comedy. It is very important to have a good idea about who is going to enjoy your games.
What speed is your game played at? When you are designing your board game, remember that while there are some games that are ideal when you want to while away an evening, other games are meant to be played relatively fast.
Board games tend to take longer than, say, card games, so take a moment to think about how long a round will last and how long a game will last. How long should it take people to reach the goal and win? What kind of complications can set them back and do you want them to be able to finish the game up inside of twenty minutes?
Get players to test your game. It doesn’t matter what audience you have the game geared towards; if you don’t have play testers, you will inevitably run into an unfortunate obstacle the first time the game is trotted out. When you want to invest into a good board game, it is critical to create the prototype and then spend a lot of time breaking it!
Definitely get helpers to assist and constructively criticize your game. Take time to think about what your options will probably be and see who you can get to help you. The more play testers that you have around to catch errors and awkward game playing moments, the better.
Make sure your game has good art. When you are inventing a good board game, remember that it should be visually enticing. Even if you are inventing a game simply for personal use, finding an artist to assist you with board game characteristics like layout and good coloring is very essential. You don’t want a board game that gives you a headache when you look at it for too long. The visual appeal of a board game is a extremely important.
Take some time to really think about designing your board game. The more effort you put into it, the more rewarding the game will be to you and future players. It really is that simple.