(This is a guest article by Stephen Glenn, designer of You Must Be An Idiot! and the Spiel Des Jahres nominated Balloon Cup. Stephen was responding to Jacob’s article about game design exercises, and gave us his own.)
I have had game design ideas wake me up in the middle of the night. I’m constantly thinking “what could be a new game idea” and I go to sleep, literally, almost every night with bits of design swirling in my head. In fact, I had a breakthrough last night doing exactly that. I have a game that I’m convinced would work GREAT with the Euphrat & Tigris scoring. Unfortunately, it’s the Euphrat & Tigris scoring… an idea so friggin’ wonderful that I couldn’t live with myself if I borrowed it. So I lay awake thinking “how do I reach those ends in a *different* way”. And something occurred to me! I got up, wrote it down, and went back to bed satisfied.
I do something from time to time called the DESIGN A BAD GAME EXERCISE. The concept is that I am under contract to design a game in ONE DAY. It doesn’t have to be good. It doesn’t have to be particularly original. It doesn’t even have to be fun. It just has to be a game that works. Game = a system wherein players compete by making choices. For example, LCR would not qualify as a game even by these minimal standards. Another restriction is that the game can’t be the same as any other game I’m aware of (including those created in previous DESIGN A BAD GAME exercises).
This idea has several things going for it:
1. It allows me the pleasure of designing. I love designing. It’s fun. Sometimes it’s a drag when I don’t have a good idea and I can’t design. I love creating the graphic components using Microsoft Publisher. I love printing them out on heavy stock paper or full sheet labels. I love cutting them out. I love scavenging my thrift store game pile for pawns, tiles, boards, etc. I love sitting at my dining room table and assembling the prototype with my headphones on. Sometimes I even have music playing through them!
2. This exercise keeps my motor running. It keeps me mentally fit. The same way that running on a treadmill will never win you a race, but it might help you win a race in the future.
3. The act of creating a game (even a bad one) is still, by definition, a creative act. At least in my case, creativity breeds creativity. Sometimes when I’m designing a bad game, a new, fresh idea will sneak in. Now, this idea may not make my bad game much better, but it’s an idea I can catalog for future sessions. Believe it or not, I have a notebook with lots of these ideas just waiting for a home.
4. Every now and then, a bad game will turn out to be a decent game that people like and play. My silly little Finger Ball game has a small, obscure, yet enthusiastic group of fans. Some of them even play it via BGG chat. One BGGer wrote a mock dissertation of the game. While it was certainly intended as a joke, it was somewhat insightful.
The idea seems similar to that of various rpg design contests. Their role has been better explained elsewhere.
I agree there are similarities (just as there are with Nanowrimo, 48 Hour Film Project, and other limited time contests in many creative fields) but I thought Stephen’s idea served as an interesting way to train yourself to design without needing a contest. Also, it’s specifically about boardgames, which I would argue have some unique properties (especially when he talks about components and unique mechanics.)
I find it very useful every now and then to be reminded that everything you design / create doesn’t HAVE to be great, and that even the bad designs can and will eventually lead to something great.