“I have this great idea for a game.” In creative circles, it’s a phrase that gets joked about because it’s often followed by some variation on “…and you should make it for me.”
Game Design by Example: Introduction
When I started designing games 4-5 years ago, I used to post all of my designs in public as I was working on them. As my life got busier, I started doing that less and less. I’ve recently realized that I need to do it more.
Shotgunning
Since that day my first nameless elf died in the gray-ooze cave in The Keep on the Borderlands, I was hooked. I got into roleplaying games over three decades ago because I was interested in the drama.
What Makes a Game Publishable?
How can you decide if the board game you’re working on could have make it to store shelves? Here’s a few quick ideas.
My 2014 as a Freelance Game Designer
Dave recaps his 2014 as a freelance game designer in both tabletop and RPG, and learn how too much clicking can seriously derail a plan.
Stealing From Games (And A Game About Stealing)
I see this a lot among game designers of all kinds, both new and experienced: “I really want to use [game mechanism X] but I worry it’ll be too much like [popular game].” I am here to set you free and tell you not to worry about that.
Metatopia 2013 Schedule
Metatopia is a unique convention, added to the roster of Double Exposure conventions. Metatopia covers games of all kinds, from board/card/party games to roleplaying games to live action games. As someone who has interests in all those areas, I’ve been happy to be at Metatopia every time they’ve put the convention on, including this year.
Criminals: An Experiment in Card Game Publishing
Around 2006-2007, I was involved with a small startup game company called Robot Martini. We focused at first on making small card games by friends. The whole thing didn’t work out. But we did make some cool games. Flash forward to 2012 when I heard a rumor that the company behind DriveThruRPG was starting their […]
Interview: Tracy Barnett, Designer of School Daze and One Shot
Tracy Barnett is a good friend of ours that has waged a one-man war on his own spare time. With his second KickStarter game, One Shot, ending in just over two days I offered to chat with him a bit about his projects and his thoughts on designing open to the public as he has made a habit of doing. You can also read more of Tracy’s thoughts on that subject in posts he wrote for us earlier this year, Game Design and Openness and Designing in Public.
Too Many Pillars: Background and Specialties in D&D Next
I was reminded of this when playing the newest version of the playtest packet for D&D Next at Gen Con, and also clicked even more when thinking about themes and how they work in 4e (of which I just had an article posted with new ones, obvious plug) and also how 13th Age tackles it. Here’s my conclusion: I’m not a fan of the Race/Class/Background/Specialty system as implemented in D&D Next.
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