Brand Game Development

JANUARY 2, 2018

With various other developers, I’ve talked about all the different parts that go into making a board game: the core engine , the mechanics , rules , and storytelling / internal narrative. Below is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation via Facebook Messenger. Drapple is an abstract, tile-laying gardening game.

Playtesting 130

Playtesting Games Advertising Prototyping 130

Interesting Choices

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

Not long after that I started working on a game (then called City Draft) that would be strongly inspired by a few key influences: 7 Wonders for the mechanics and structure, Carcassonne for the idea of placing tiles in a grid, and SimCity for the theme. Science is purely all or nothing. Few viable paths to victory.

Build 40

Build Tile Point and Click Games 40

Brand Game Development

JULY 22, 2019

Below, I have lightly edited the original work from his blog. In each of the design diaries that I have written so far, I have focused on a specific game mechanic or isolated portion of the game. There is also an escalation in strategy as the players fill up their boards by acquiring more and more Leader tiles.

Tile 130

Tile Games Playtesting Balance 130

Brand Game Development

JULY 15, 2019

Particularly when hard choices come from simple mechanics. Below, I have lightly edited the original work from his blog and – in some cases – replaced images with ones from the production copy of Tasty Humans. I knew I needed a mechanic that gave players a choice of one adventurer from several options.

Tile 130

Tile Mechanics Games Puzzle 130

Radiator Blog

JUNE 30, 2022

A broughlike is a variation on a roguelike named after designer Michael Brough , who has spoken before on his design patterns like square tiles, orthogonal movement, turn parity, glitching, limited info, simple maze designs, minimal resources. L loss or often worse, since cops can exploit the same chain reaction mechanic as the player.

Code 52

Code Educational Education Prototyping 52