Let the (board) games begin!

How I came up with the idea for my first board game

I have always enjoyed playing board games. Getting together with a few friends, opening a box, setting the game up on the table and it’s on!

Like many, I started with classics like Talisman, Risk, and Settlers of Catan. In fact, I enjoyed playing these games so much that I decided to create a game of my own.

In this article, I will walk you through my process from the moment I decided to create a board game, to the point where I understood that I have an idea worth pursuing.

Starting! And getting nowhere…

So about three years ago, I decided that I wanted to create a board game. Cool.

Deciding to do something is a good first step, but for me, it was not enough.

As I mentioned before, at this point, my board game collection was not that diverse. I was not aware of the different game genres and cool game mechanics out there.

With minimal references in mind, I had trouble coming up with cool ideas of my own. And so, during the first year, the best I came up with was some abstract ideas that I doodled on a page and were not close to being playable (this was very clear to me by looking at my wife’s face when I pitched the ideas).

Non-playable abstract doodles

There are more games out there

One day a friend recommended I will play Coup — a super cool bluffing card game. He said that this game is all about lies and deception and that it is perfect for me (should I have been offended?).

I bought it, took it to work, and fell in love with social deduction games (taking the entire team down with me).

The obsession began.

I then got The Resistance, keeping in mind that I have a high standard to maintain at work.

I was introduced to engine builders by playing Splendor, and once again discovered my love for discounts and free stuff.

I backed The 7th Continent on Kickstarter and was amazed to see how much I enjoy spending 20+ hours on a game that loves kicking me when I’m down.

Before I knew it, Azul, Dixit, Exploding Kittens, Bears VS Babies, Hanabi, Sushi Go, Code Names, Patchwork, Magic Maze, Gloom and more joined my collection.

And so I played… and played…

Understanding what I’m looking for in a game

A guiding principle throughout this process was that I wanted to create the perfect game for me, hoping others will enjoy that kind of game as well. To understand what kind of game this is, I looked at different games I played and started analyzing my likes and dislikes.

Here are a few examples:

Settlers of Catan

Likes: owning resources that no one else has is fun, trading, multiple paths to victory which allow the underdog to take the game, rolling a 7.

Dislikes: there is too much luck involved, setup time is too long, rolling a 7.

Coup

Likes: fast rounds, bluffing, cool characters and actions, up to six players, simple.

Dislikes: the possibility of being eliminated before the game ends.

Splendor

Likes: getting to a point where I can get cards for free, “Nobles” mechanic as another way to score points, the gem chips.

Dislikes: there is almost no player interaction.

Risk

Likes: nostalgic, requires a strategy, hidden objectives, making alliances, betraying your allies.

Dislikes: long time to learn the rules, setup, and play (~3 hours), battle mechanics are luck based.

Sushi Go

Likes: sushi with a face… cute, good entry level game for some of my friends and family.

Dislikes: the game is too easy and is not challenging enough, in my opinion.

Failing fast & gloriously

Knowing what kinds of games and mechanics I enjoy, or don’t, both opened my mind and helped me focus.

I would come up with a concept, and without overthinking it I’d start answering questions:

What is the player’s goal?

What are the game components?

How does a turn/round look like?

What kind of game is this?

I’d then draw potential game setups, and dynamically change my answers to the above questions, letting it evolve and adding more and more information, again — #WithoutOverthinkingIt.

The goal was to get to something playable and test it, changing it and testing again and again until I either found potential or realized that I needed to move on to the next idea. Throughout this process, I compared what I came up with to different games, having my likes and dislikes in mind.

Example of one of my failed attempts:

My wife and I joke now and then on different types of useless superpowers, like always having an umbrella #Umbrellman, or always putting the USB flash drive with the right side up on the first attempt #USBGirl.

So I thought about creating a useless superpowers board game where players use different superheroes with useless superpowers and go on missions.

Idea — check!

This started as a game where you use your imagination to come up with funny ways to complete a mission successfully. So a mission could be saving a damsel (or a damoiseau, it’s 2019…) in distress from a castle protected by a dragon, and a player could get character cards with “UmbrellaMan”, “USBGirl” and “Always-on-time guy” and equipment cards like “Rubber duck” and “Soap”.

Let’s see if I can do this… Always-on-time guy arrives (on time) and throws the soap at the dragon. As the dragon eats Always-on-time guy (R.I.P), USBGirl arrives (late) and sticks her Flash drive in the dragon’s eye (with the right side up). As the dragon screams and shoots fire everywhere, UmbrellaMan opens an umbrella, catches the hot air from the dragon’s fiery breath and shoots to the top of the castle. He grabs the damsel/damoiseau and uses another umbrella to jump and parachute to safety. They then fight over the rubber duck.

So to answer my above questions:

What is the player’s goal? “Get points by making up stories”.

“Get points by making up stories”. What are the game components? “Character, equipment and mission cards”.

“Character, equipment and mission cards”. How does a turn/round look like? “There are many ways to do this. Let’s try this: each player gets three character cards and two equipment cards. A mission card is drawn and the first player to come up with a story wins”.

“There are many ways to do this. Let’s try this: each player gets three character cards and two equipment cards. A mission card is drawn and the first player to come up with a story wins”. What kind of game is this? “It looks like a party game. Hmm… I don’t like party games”.

I got to something I believed was playable. I then created some cards and playtested with my wife.

The result was:

- It took us a long time to come up with stories.

- The stories were (as you can tell from my example) far fetched, to say the least. Apparently useless superpowers are useless.

- It was not fun.

- Did I mention that I don’t like party games?

When I compared this game to other games, I realized that it lacked the things I love in games. There is no strategy, no player interaction, no conflict, and for me — no fun.

I iterated a bit trying to integrate elements I love into the game, but it was too far off. Useless superpowers can be a cool theme for a game, but this current game is not the one for me.

No harm done :) I quickly understood that I needed to change direction. I tried, I failed, I moved on to the next attempt.

Finally, something interesting!

In October 2018 (~eight months ago), my wife and I visited Vienna and went to a friendly local game store. I stumbled upon the game Sagrada and thought that the mechanic of placing dice on the player board was very cool.

When I returned, I played around with the concept, replacing the dice with wooden cubes. I bought some cubes and played around with them. Then I realized — building stuff with cubes is fun! I can think of different ways to physically build structures with cubes and create a game where these structures have functionality.

I thought about how I love getting free things and defined a structure named “Factory”, which allows players to manufacture cubes.

I remembered how much I love messing around with other players and defined a structure named “Thief” that allows players to steal cubes from other players.

I decided on a goal — leveling up to level 6, and came up with two ways to level up because I like having multiple paths to victory.

I thought of a theme and called the game “Cube Monster”. I decided that the players fear the monster and that the monster can either reward the players or make them suffer disasters.

I kept integrating more and more things I love into the game.

Once again, I answered the questions:

What is the player’s goal? “To get to level 6”.

“To get to level 6”. What are the game components? “Cubes of different colors, a board, dice, cards, etc.”.

“Cubes of different colors, a board, dice, cards, etc.”. How does a turn/round look like? “A player (the Feeder) feeds the monster. After which each player takes their turn one by one by taking a cube, using their structures, building more structures and leveling up”.

“A player (the Feeder) feeds the monster. After which each player takes their turn one by one by taking a cube, using their structures, building more structures and leveling up”. What kind of game is this? “Strategy with a hint of Engine Building. I love Strategy and Engine Building games! ”.

I prepared everything, printed cards, drew a board with colored pencils, and painted the cubes with my wife.

We played. It was fun.

First time playtesting Cube Monster

What happened next

The first playtest of Cube Monster showed potential.

I found my idea and decided that I was going for it!

Since then, I’ve been designing and developing the game, addressing critical subjects like duration, balance, simplification and fine-tuning the rules and mechanics. I’ve also been working on the game’s art and graphic design with a super talented artist named Ren — Renflower Grapx.

Final thoughts

Eight months and ~50 playtests in; I can say that Cube Monster is very different from where it started #DontFallInloveWithYourIdeas. It has the same theme, the same goal, but so many components and mechanics were added, changed, twisted, and changed again.

Cube Monster prototype

A lot of what I initially did was based on intuition. However, board game design is a vast field with many challenges. In hindsight, parallel to playing many games, I’d get familiar with it sooner than later.

Luckily there is so much online content. To name a few specific resources I find extremely helpful:

- Brian Henk’s, Richard New’s, and Jeremy Commandeur’s podcast: The Board Game Business Podcast

- Gabe Barrett’s podcast: The Board Game Design Lab Podcast

- Jamey Stegmaier’s blog and Youtube channel

Working on the game, I keep learning so much about game design and the board game industry. There is still a lot more work ahead before it becomes a reality, but that’s OK, this journey is hella fun.