Nick Bentley Makes Games

I found it very difficult to design games around this concept. I have a bunch of cutting-room-floor designs that failed to do it well.

The left die is indeed dangerous

can verify

Ha!

I cannot convey how much I prefer the 4-sided die on the right than on the left.

I've also yet to meet anyone who has tried the kind on the right and still prefers the pyramidal type.

(get 'em here: role4initiative.com/collections/...)

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definitely related

I enjoyed Children of Time enough that I'm reading another book by the same author, Alien Clay. I think I might like it even more.

Thanks. Trying to be useful.

Designer Diary: Pacts | BoardGameGeek News

I've gotten the sense many designers don't have a good bead on how ignorant we all truly are about our creations.

The illusions of our own expertise blind us.

(I found the above quote in the BGG designer diary below)

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I’d also add:

One thing designers know least about what it’s like to play their game for the first time - the play that most shapes its commercial success - among other knowledge gaps.

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"On one hand, you are intimately familiar with every detail. You have opinions about how a single card on turn one will affect the rest of the game.

On the other, you are way too close to its creation to have any real idea how much fun it is or how much potential it has."

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I LOVE this:

"There exists a paradox in game design. You are simultaneously the most knowledgeable and least knowledgeable person about your game..."

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Great commercial art requires deep study of others' minds.

As a former neurobiologist, I find profound fascination and beauty in this.

A few designers’ tastes naturally match the zeitgeist, and for them there’s no dichotomy between auteur and commercial art, but that’s rare - and not me.

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I’ve worked professionally in tabletop game design for 11 years.

I doubt I could have if I hadn’t shifted from prioritizing my own opinions to prioritizing others’.

It's the difference between auteur and commercial art.

To me, commercial art is no less artful, just different.

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always cool to see your visuals

maybe even moreso for graphic design than rulebooks

Totally agree. The same designers who write the rulebooks as they design and let the handshake between the two guide decisions.

Yeah it's really hard.

A belief (which I can't prove):

In tabletop games, the best rulebooks are hard to recognize because they make complex games feel easier.

So we perceive them as average rulebooks for easier games rather than elite ones for harder games.

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This is a great answer. The market cap thing is important.

"Design where the money is" - this can be hard for designers, who usually get into it for the art of it.

I'd add: to make a hit, you have to design a great game AND a great product. They're different things. Get good at both.

I work for a publisher (director of design at Dolphin Hat Games).

cool I'll play with it thanks.

never heard of it. will check it out. thx.

true

let me know how it goes!

oh cool! is it public?

once you get your first taste of data merge, you'll never, ever go back

YouTube video by FigmaTalk Syncing Google Sheet Data to Figma

I'm constantly amazed how much more I like Figma than Illustrator for making prototypes.

Most things in Figma take me less than half the time they used to in Illustrator

(thanks to @marcelineleiman.bsky.social for showing me the light)

Youtube tutorial on Figma Data Merge below.

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Tech tip for tabletop game designers:

For me, Data Merge for Figma (which requires a plugin called "Google Sheets Sync") is less fiddly and more reliable than Data Merge for Adobe products. It's AWESOME.

Made this deck and populated directly into print-and-play template with a click.

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very cool!