Games are all about having fun under a set of rules. Creating a board game is much like creating a video game.
A game loop is the loop of process that you play in a game. Here’s an example of a farming game.
The game plays by certain rules. It has costs and it has gains. There’s winning and losing.
The purpose of the game is to run a successful farm, constantly getting better at it, until you create the best farm in the land.
There are 100s of types of video games. Thankfully, there’s only a few types of board games.
You can choose one of the below or even mix a few types:
- Roll and Move- Monopoly, Candyland
- Deck Building Games- Munchkin, Pokemon
- Area Control Games- Risk, Warhammer
- Roleplaying Games- Dungeons and Dragons, Shadowrun
- Party Games- Apples to Apples, Cards Against Humanity
- Classical Combat Games- Chess, Checkers
- Puzzle/Guessing/Word Games- Pictionary, Scrabble
Here’s what you first need to decide:
What’s the goal of the game? Work together, beat opponents, collect great treasure
What kind of game is it? What type of mechanics should it have?
What would a player turn look like?
What kind of things does the player interact with? Cards, coins, items, etc.
Feel free to experiment on paper and play with different objects. Please do not draw on the objects.
Start to write/draw ideas on your paper and come up with a core idea before creating elements.