2016’s Lessons Of Gaming #20: 191-200

191. Scope! Scope Scope Scope!

Fuckin’ don’t make your first project like “Mage Knight But Dark Souls With a TCG.” Make your first project the _smallest possible thing you can_. You don’t need an epic world. You don’t need booster expansions. Start making a small thing and you will learn from that to make a slightly less-small thing. You can’t just JUMP into the sky and figure you’ll fly.

192. Crossplatform Cards

You can learn good things trying to translate videogames to board games just, like, please stop translating the boring shit.

193. Idea: Transforming Robots

A robot built out of cards that you flip over to transform into a different mode, but also, Cards that socket into other cards.

194. Doing Your Math

Players don’t need to know the math YOU did, they need to know the math THEY have to DO. Your back work can be ugly as sin and hard as diamonds and it’s OKAY if you never ask players to multiply prime numbers or some nonsense. (Unless your game is LITERALLY about doing crypto in which case. . . fascinating, and well done and I’m curious?)

195. Reasons For Players

Games almost always benefit from players having a reason to LIE, a reason to WANT, and a reason to COOPERATE. All at once. Funnily enough this is why you have lots of games about crime and politics (which is crime with a suit). Players wondering ‘are you lying’ is so much more handleable a problem than players asking ‘is anyone lying at all’

196. Box Air Has Some Purpose

Tight inlays and packed boxes can look nice but it makes packing the game up more annoying. Be mindful of that interaction. I know I harp on how boxes being too empty is a problem but there’s some value for flexibility.

197. The Continued Continued Adventures of Tits The Girl

If you have a variety of women in your character lineup, check if they’re all The Conventionally Hot One. Blizzard had this problem with Overwatch, where until Zarya showed up, everyone was just a very clear, typical example of Curvy Femme.

198. Relax The Stressors

Redirecting the focus point of an existing game can transform it. Mafia De Cuba is Werewolf If You Could Just Take Shit Easy.

199. Hidden Role Games

Werewolf-style hidden role games are fun and pack a lot into a small space right now but reviewers seem to be Very Fucking Sick Of Them. I say that even though I’m in the middle of making one of them.

200. Sharing And Listening

jesus christ,, 200? Really? Fuck me. ANYWAY, you can’t have all the good ideas yourself. It’s worth your time to share ideas and listen.

You can’t exclusively own mechanics. Copyright can’t apply to ‘methods of keeping books. ‘ Sharing and learning from other games is okay.