Game Design: Revision Pain

Revisions on your game design project can be tough. I’m currently overhauling my game board to be more simplified (per playtest feedback) and the simplest, most cost effective option is to pull off labels and repaint areas of the board to fit my latest revision ideas. In hindsight I should have gone with a simpler medium instead of watercolors on cardboard.

New map in progress. Goodbye UK, India, and Brazil as playable nations!

Additionally I included some special order miniatures from Shapeways that I may end up not using. Per play tester feedback the unit options are a bit daunting. Considering this I will go with a “less is more” strategy. Sadly, I will miss some of these really cool minis!

US F16 and Russian Hind from Shapeways

Custom game cards still in use... For now

Making these choices aren’t easy, especially if you’ve already invested some money into the beta version of your game. I decided that I would rather build a game that is fun to play as opposed to looking really cool. If I could get both on target then that would be great, but I primarily want people to look forward to playing Rogue States.

On one last note, be sure to document your sessions so you have a reference of what went well and what didn’t. My friend Matty from 1000XP had these booklets made for their game design efforts.

Game Design, A Lengthy Process

Rogue States first playtest

Hello readers! Some of you may have visited this site during it's previous incarnation "Fulgrim's Stage." You may have noticed a name change. I wanted to broaden the scope of what I covered on this blog. I will still be posting miniature games articles periodically.

What I wanted to expand into was the process of game design. Most people who like to game have had an idea for their own game at one time or another. Sadly most of these ideas remain in the ether and are never realized. I'm going to share a project I'm currently working on called Rogue States: Axis of Evil. It's a strategy board game that I've had stuck in my head since 2004! I've only really begun the design process in earnest about 2 years ago. It took me a long time to get started because I really didn't know how to begin, but having some friends who have successfully kickstarted their own game and visiting a design workshop at Emerald City Comic Con I finally stopped making excuses.

Where to begin? Well, I started with a concept. I wanted a game that had some elements of Axis and Allies, but was based on modern day events. I started a word doc and wrote up a basic synopsis and what happens in a turn.

Once I got a basic game mechanic down I went on to find proxy game pieces from various board games. I made a map with pencil, pen, and water color on a basic cardboard trifold. I went a little beyond with my map so any basic drawing surface will do with pencil alone. Note: I already have to make a new map after the first playtest, so do something that is easily modify-able!

I consider this the first step. Next, find some playtesters to try it out and give candid feedback. I'll be posting some more articles about my Rogue States project so be sure to follow if you like strategy board games!

My word file "rulebook" is a living document