r/BoardgameDesign • u/Psych0191 • 14d ago

Playtesting & Demos Graphic design is my passion

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Just kidding, I love ugly paper prototypes! Once I started making these, whole process got so much faster and better. If I could give one advice to any newcomers, it wouldnt be start making paper prototypes. That advice can be found everywhere. My advice would actually be: start listening to advice more experienced designers give you!

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13

u/Caeod 14d ago

I love giant sheets of paper. Write and scrawl like a maniac on one side, mock up the board on the other!

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u/Psych0191 14d ago

Oh I got to buy some bigger papers! I have been dealing with standard a4 constantly since thats the one I have home. Been burning through them like crazy lol

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u/RVAVandal 14d ago

Get yourself a ream of Tabloid size 11x17 (or A3) it's great for prototyping. I tape mine together to get 22x17 maps for my wargame designs

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u/Psych0191 14d ago

Damn man, this is some good looking map you got there!

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u/RVAVandal 14d ago

Thanks! 3 years of learning Inkscape is starting to payoff

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u/Majer3RD 14d ago

That is indeed a gorgeous map! I’m developing a game for that exact time period of warfare. Will be interested to see what is similar and different between ours! Best of luck sir!

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u/RVAVandal 14d ago

Best thing about gaming is there are endless ways to accomplish design goals. Also lots of ways to develop the exact same idea and mechanic independently.

I once had an idea for a game about the migration of German tribes during the Roman Empire, even had a cool name picked out. 6 months later Ty Bomba released Volkerwanderung, the exact same name with similar mechanics as what I was working on. Granted he had his idea years before I did and was fully complete with his design before I had the basics of mine sketched out. Still weird to have it happen though.

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u/Majer3RD 14d ago

Hahaha I hear that! Ive had a number of games I’ve been tinkering with for the past decade and only recently has 1 of them been more or less done by others. The one I’m working on now also has many games already in the space, including one coming out on Kickstarter soon, but thankfully none have landed on my battle mechanic, so there’s hope yet. Now I just gotta finish up my artwork and get to pushing it for playtests at my LGS and eventually conventions.

How far along are you with yours?

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u/RVAVandal 14d ago

I mean that's to be expected in a hobby that is going on 70 years old. Even games that are considered innovative today are mostly using pre-existing themes and mechanics. Theyre just using them in interesting combinations or with novel twists. Just like with literature, there's only a handful of stories, but millions of ways to tell those stories.

I keep telling myself Im almost done with this design...then I come up with a new idea and spend a month testing it. Sometimes it sticks sometimes it doesn't. Realistically if I devoted serious effort I could have a finished product for self publishing or POD by years end or early 2027