Reddit reviews The Game Inventor's Guidebook: How to Invent and Sell Board Games, Card Games, Role-Playing Games, & Everything in Between!

There's two sides to the Game Designer coin: One is developing a good set of rules which are enjoyable, stable, and of appropriate complexity, while the other is creating a good physical prototype which can reasonably be used for heavy playtesting.

Developing a good set of rules is a vague and nebulous thing, and counterexamples can be found for virtually any advice someone gives you. There are a few constants, however:

• Make sure your game doesn't contain any false choices: If a player is given a choice, there should be strategic value in all possible options. Cake or death? It's not really a choice at all, is it? Similarly, if moving Admiral Reinhardt from his starting position overwhelmingly leads to his demise, there's not really a reason to move him at all, is there?
  
  
• Study some Game Theory, but don't get lost in its ivory towers. Game Theory can quickly transition from discussion of the interaction of game mechanisms and various game types into purely abstract mathematical concepts indistinguishable from a college-level Calculus class.
  
  
• Dabble in computer programming. This may seem completely unrelated, but a games rules are actually a system of logical instructions, and one of the most common problems with amateur game designers is that their game will literally "crash" with unhandled exceptions or edge cases. If you understand how computer programs work, this will help you create a stable ruleset, which you should strive for before you...
  
  
• Playtest. Repeatedly, often, and with a wide variety of people who do not know you personally. Take notes. Try to keep in mind who your target audience is: People who are primarily Monopoly fans aren't going to have favorable things to say about Puerto Rico or Agricola. Listen to your target audience, but do not feel compelled to change your game for every complaint. Try to be objective towards your own ideas.
  
  
• Revise. Playtesting will always highlight problems, from the minor to the game-breaking. Sometimes you can fix things with just a new line of text in the rulebook, the addition or subtraction of some tokens, or changing the specific effect of a card or board space. Sometimes you will have to take the whole thing apart and start from scratch. Try to cast your net as wide as possible: A single rule which catches 12 problems is better than 12 smaller rules that catch 1 problem each.
  
  Keep bouncing back and forth between the playtest and revise stages until your target audience is pleased with the game.
  
  On the physical prototype side of things:
  
  
• Pawns - Don't be afraid to cannibalize existing games, or use off-the-shelf materials from Dollar Tree or similar stores. Shaped erasers, beads, or just cheapo chess pieces colored with magic marker can work fine for virtually any kind of pawn in a prototype.
  
  
• Cards - Thanks to places like ArtsCow, these are now the easiest part to get at factory quality. Failing that, print your cards on standard 8.5"x11" paper, cut to size, and place in a protective card sleeve with a regular playing card to add stiffness.
  
  
• Non-Modular Boards - Typically, boards don't actually require much thickness in order to be functionally playable. I tend to print on multiple 110lb cardstock sheets, trim to size, then use Post-it notes on the underside to hold it together while playing.
  
  
• Modular boards and tiles - This is perhaps the most tedious part, and it gets harder the more complicated your tile shapes are. The quickest way is to print on standard paper, glue to foamcore or chipboard, and trim to shape. For something closer to factory quality, print on 110lb cardstock, then glue the printed cardstock on top of 5 other sheets of cardstock. This will create a tile roughly the thickness of Settlers of Catan tiles. For higher print quality, you can print your graphics through a photo printing service (such as through your local Walgreens or Rite Aid), and use that as the top layer. If you're feeling particularly ambitious, purchase a Xyron Wishblade, and use it to cut shapes out of cardstock. It won't cut things much thicker than 110lb, though, so you'll still have to glue layers together for thicker tiles.
  
  
• Boxes - Strictly speaking, as a game designer, your prototype's box should be purely functional - Large enough to contain the game, and with enough marking to clearly identify the game within your collection. Tackle boxes and bead craft storage boxes are often good candidates for game prototype storage. If you have lots of playing cards, check the sports cards/collectible cards section of your local Wal-Mart type store: They should have multi-compartment card storage cases.
  
  As for actually getting your game published, that's a whole other matter.
  
  Some recommended reading: Sid Sackson's A Gamut of Games is not only a good collection of simple games designed by one of America's most innovative game designers, but also a fascinating look into the thoughts and methods behind the creation of those games. The Game Inventor's Guidebook is also good reading, and contains interviews with industry people - it's not completely up to date, however, and some of the interviews are more about a game as a product (A fast-selling game is "better" than a slow selling game), rather than concepts regarding balance, strategy, complexity, or innovation. Similarly, Paid to Play: The Business of Game Design gives some good insight into the industry in general.

Hello, and welcome to /r/tabletopgamedesign!

I can see in the comments that you are keeping your idea intentionally close the vest. You don't need to worry about people "stealing" your ideas - that really doesn't happen for three reasons:

• Everyone already has their own ideas they care more about. I'm not going to bother stealing your idea when I already have fifty-billion of my own.
  
• The hard work is everything that comes after the idea. Game ideas are a honestly a dime a dozen, but taking an idea and chiseling away and polishing it until it's a finely tuned machine is the real challenge.
  
• You literally cannot copyright game mechanics. I could release a game that is mechanically identical to Risk but used my own unique art and assets, and could probably get away with it. But, nobody would buy it, because Risk exists.
  
  Eventually, you will need other people to help make your game into a reality, whether it's working with a publisher, a manufacturer, or even emailing your art to [email protected] to print them at your local store. Careful! A rogue Staples employee / aspiring game designer might steal your stuff! /s
  
  If you really don't want to share, nobody here can force you, but the quality of advice we can provide will be much lower. FWIW, I'm not just walking the walk - I have a website for my game, IntraSolar that anyone can visit and download the rulebook for. I'll also be releasing a print-n-play version sometime soon!
  
  ---
  
  My #1 piece of advice, however, is that nobody will design your game for you. Game design itself is not a game in that there are no set rules, pieces, or paths. Your path is your own, and will be more rewarding if you take initiative and purposefully move down it, rather than waiting around for someone to guide you.
  
  For now, I can at least share with you some very high-level information that should help get you started. Looking at your user history, I'm going to assume that you have no-to-little experience with tabletop gaming, but this also could be a completely incorrect assumption.
  
  

  Books to Read
  

  
  

• Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design by Geoff Engelstein.
  
• The Game Inventor's Guidebook by Brian Tinsman
  
• Probably most books on this page.
  
  

  Games to Play
  

  
  I'm going to recommend some boardgame staples. Many of these games are older, but all of them have been very well received in the boardgaming community and have valuable lessons to teach if you haven't played them.
  
  There are many other great games out there, many of which are heavier than this, but considering that you are (likely) new to the hobby, this is a great starting point.
  
  

• Seven Wonders
  
• Pandemic
  
• Dominion
  
• Splendor
  
• Secret Hitler
  
• Mysterium
  
• Sushi Go!
  
  

  Podcasts to Absorb
  

  
  You can also find them on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
  
  

• Ludology
  
• Shut Up & Sit Down
  
• Heavy Cardboard
  
• Board Game Barrage
  
  

  Blogs to Follow
  

  
  

• Boardgame Geek's Blog
  
• The Geek Weekly
  
• Meeple Like Us
  
• Meeple Mountain
  
• Punchboard Media
  
• Stonemaier Games' Blog
  
• Pandasaurus Games' Blog
  
  

  Creators to Watch
  

  
  These last two are more videogame-focused but still contain relevant & great ideas / discussions.
  
  

• Shut Up & Sit Down
  
• Board Game Geek
  
• Watch It Played
  
• Game Maker's Toolkit
  
• GDC
  
  ---
  
  There are so many other great games and resources out there that I couldn't possibly hope to put together a comprehensive list, but these are my top picks for beginners. I frequently listen / watch / read many items on this list myself on a daily basis.
  
  Good luck on your journey, and I hope you open a window into your prototype soon!

I have found The Game Inventor's Guidebook by Brian Tinsman to be a wonderful resource. It is a bit dated since so much has changed these past 8 years, but the book is a great tool nonetheless.

A few books that, while more geared towards finding a publisher than what you need to do to publish games yourself, probably still have some good information about the business for you, especially the first one:

• The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook
  
  
• Paid to Play: The Business of Game Design
  
  
• The Game Inventor's Guidebook
  
  You could also try contacting someone who had a successful and shipped Kickstarter. They're probably more approachable than a major company, and they probably do things on a more budget-conscious level than some of the larger companies, which should make their advice pretty valuable for you.
  
  Good luck!

Combine with blank cards, your own blank folding game board, some neutral pawns, and/or a set with pawns, tokens, timers, and more, and you're set!

Need inspiration? Do a Little. Reading.

OP, can you clarify what you mean by "I've been given a tight deadline of 3-4 months to provide the game for printing." Who's giving this deadline, and why is this deadline a thing?

BTW, totally cool about the lack of experience. We all start there. Many of these questions have been answered (at least partially) in this sub and on awesome blogs around the internet.

So, to partially answer a few of your questions:

2: design is mile 19 of the marathon, and may not be important at all unless you're Kickstarting it. Publishers will likely use their own artists (though to your credit, having art may put you ahead of the game since that's less work for them to do.

3: This is where playtesting over and over again is necessary. Beyond that, fifth grade math FTW – if this card is in the deck X times and the deck is Y big = X/Y.

4: I started with maybe $20 worth of games from a second-hand store (mostly for the pawns, dice, etc.), some index cards and sleeves, and Sharpies of different colors. Get the mechanics and fun right, worry about the design later.

5: This varies by game – how much luck / strategy is appropriate?

6 and 7: Somebody can probably write a book to answer this one. At least one is worthy reading: https://www.amazon.com/The-Game-Inventors-Guidebook-Role-Playing/dp/1600374476