This is the sixth entry in a multi-part essay covering board game “Player Experience” or “PX”. We’ll reference a few earlier installments below, so maybe peek back at them before coming back here! During early research of this topic (the Player Experience / PX) I discovered an earlier research paper by a group out of…
Tag: game design
Player Experience is Other People
This is the third topic in a multi-part essay covering board game “Player Experience” or “PX” You don’t have to read the others first, but it does reference several concepts from before, so I highly recommend it. [pullquote] “L’expérience, c’est les autres” — with apologies to Sartre[/pullquote]When designing a game, there is one major factor…
Player Experience (PX) Series #1: A Primer on User Experience and Interface Design
This is an installment in a multi-part essay covering board game “Player Experience” or “PX” feel free to start at the beginning, or just jump right in! To begin our exploration of Player Experience (PX), I feel it’s important to take a step back, and understand some underlying concepts. Luckily, there have…
Guest Post: One-Shots v. The Long Game
This is the second post in a guest series on One-Shot RPG adventures. This week’s post comes to you from Justin Helmer. Let’s go! – jw I guess I’ll start with a little background. The first time I had ever played was in 1978 (I know to some of you that was before…
Guest Post: The Anatomy Of A One-Shot
This is the first post in a guest series on One-Shot RPG adventures. This week’s post comes to you from Ian F. White. Ian can be found online at his site. Without further ado, I turn you over to him! – jw Introduction: In my time as both a Player and…
Designing from First Principles
I’ve written before about different tools for running play-tests, ideating on designs, and interpreting feedback, but none of those have ever really covered how to develop a framework around implementing that feedback. After I sent my proto off for publisher review, I started mentally projecting myself into a future where I…
After A Publisher Comes Knocking
As a first-time designer, one of the big questions I’ve always had is what the publishing process looks like once a design is picked up by a publisher. This summer, I got my first glance into that world. This year’s Protospiel event in Ann Arbor was a pretty big success…
Get Out of the Game Room!
There’s an aphorism in the ‘startup’ world, where I spend most of my non-gaming time. “Get out of the office!” The point is that if you get bogged down in what you think is cool, you won’t actually build something that’s useful to others. I think the same concept applies…
Theme-first Board Game Design is Awesome
I know some in the board game design community consider it sacrilege, but I’m definitely a theme-first designer. I make heavy use of my Catch Sheet day to day, while sitting in meetings, walking around, or wasting time reading articles online. Usually several times a week, I’ll be struck by an interesting economic…
Valour: The Game
When we left off last week, I had the first physical prototype of my board game in-hand. Not knowing any better, I thought I might be near the end of the road. Now, after countless hours of play testing and revising, I know two things: a) I was WAY off the…