Design Diary

My partner doesn’t play any video games, so explaining them can sometimes be difficult. The genre “Crafting Survival” doesn’t mean much to someone who doesn’t game, even though just about every parent knows what Minecraft is. So I started saying that I’m playing a “tree chopping” game—because you chop trees and build stuff. I’ve played a lot of tree choppers, and honestly, the amount of effort put into making the tree chopping feel satisfying is really important to the game. On the low end of the spectrum for satisfying tree chopping is Timberborn, a game about beavers chopping trees and building a city. The beavers aren’t chopping or even gnawing the trees. They just kind of stand there until the wood is collected. ...

I subscribe to the notion that everyone has ideas, but it’s the execution that is difficult. Well, sometimes the ideas are difficult too.

The Appeal of 18-Card Games I’ve been really interested in building an 18-card game ever since I learned about “wallet games,” which I most notably associate with Button Shy Games. Constraints often breed creativity, as limited space requires unique solutions. You can’t simply add more cards, components, or pieces to accomplish your goal. Limiting scope when building software—whether that’s enterprise applications or video games—often leads to faster delivery, as it simply requires less work. I assumed the same principle would apply to board games, or in this case, a card game. Limit the scope, invent something simple, and boom, I have a game! Spoiler alert… this is not true. ...

I found my push-your-luck, dice-rolling, poker game to be in relatively good shape. The game flowed well, was pretty easy to teach, and, most importantly, we had fun playing it. Now, I needed to write the rules. I originally thought writing rules would be easy. I don’t know why—I have no excuse for such a naive thought. Even games from established publishers often have rulebooks with gaps, missing edge cases, or confusing instructions. ...

In my last design diary, I talked about the invaluable insights from playtesting—how feedback helped me rethink parts of the game, refine its mechanics, and let go of ideas that weren’t quite working. Since then, I’ve made some changes, and I wanted to share the thought process behind them. Design Diary #3: Playtesting and FeedbackRefining a game comes with exciting ups and downs. One change can ruin the game, while another can turn a mediocre experience into something special. … Big Dewlap - Blog I’m trying a new format for this design diary. Let me know your thoughts on if it works or not! ...

Refining a game comes with exciting ups and downs. One change can ruin the game, while another can turn a mediocre experience into something special. It’s important not to get discouraged by setbacks and to let the triumphs motivate you to keep going.

While far from perfect, the core mechanic—pushing our luck to roll for better cards—was so much fun that it was clear there was a real game here.

Here’s my first foray into documenting a design I have been working on. I want this to be an exercise in exploring all parts of a game, starting with the raw idea, which will never be the final version and often will be immensely unfun. Ideas are always the easy part; execution is where the real challenge lies. Let me set the stage for how this idea came about. At my day job, every Wednesday at noon, I often have to close a conference room door to shut out my coworkers playing Texas Hold ‘Em poker loudly. I don’t particularly enjoy poker. I will play it for the social experience, but I get impatient and find myself going all in after only 20 minutes, losing all my chips and wishing everyone else well. ...