Thoughts on Winning - Retrospective

Thoughts on Winning explores what about the game playing experience keeps players wanting to come back to play more games.  To be fair, most players are going to lose over 50% of the time , so what keeps bringing players back to play. 

Articles:

Losing

Most of the time players lose a game, so one cannot talk about the experience of winning a game without talking about the experience of losing a game.

The Psychology of Winning

Game structure and the environment in which we play board games mitigates the negative effects from losing. 

Goals Besides Winning

Players keep playing a game because they have goals beyond just winning the game.

Market Mechanic Lecture: Retrospective

The Market Mechanic Lecture series examines different market mechanics to explore how to better use them in board games.  The series makes a point to clarify from an economic perspective what is a market mechanic vs. a market theme. 


There is a concern that people are missing out on good economic mechanics in board games because they associated them with bad market themed games.  By better defining how to use economic mechanics, the series highlights how good economic mechanic are fun for board game players.   Below is a link to all the articles in the series with a few sentences explaining each article's topic.

Articles:

Introduction

The Introduction lays out the concern that people are missing out on good economic mechanics in board games because they associated them with bad market themed games.  To be able to distinguish the two, it defines what is the difference between a market mechanic and a market theme.   

Trade

Trade mechanics are challenging to design  in board games because both players must benefit from engaging in the trade.  A trade mechanic must be a voluntary exchange between players, such as in Settlers of Catan.  A trade theme, like in Acquire, is when players do not make direct voluntary exchanges with each other.

Money

Money mechanics are a tool board game designers can use to simplify board game play.  It makes it easier for players to trade and lets designers communicate certain game rules with a small set of numbers versus a long and complicated spread sheet.

Prices

Price mechanics are a tool that players use to communicate information with each other within a board game.  It allows players to compete over who can best mange and obfuscate information.

Auctions (Most Read)

A game designer who desires to use an auction mechanics will improve their design if they understand the strengths and weaknesses of auction mechanics highlighted in this post.

Credit (Loans) (2nd Most Read)

Whether a game uses a credit mechanic or a credit theme, this post explains how board game designers can improve either by better understanding how both are used in the real world.

Property Rights

Property rights mechanics enable players to have meaningful choices and personal interactions within board games.  Without property rights players cannot engage in trade, use price mechanics, engage in auctions, or use a credit mechanic.

Game Design Philosophy: Retrospective

The Game Design Philosophy series charts a systematic method of designing a board game prior to releasing it for play testing.  Each lecture highlights a specific step in the process and explains why the step is important.  To clarify how to execute the steps, I develop the game Underground Street Racing to provide examples throughout the lecture on how to follow the process.  In the last post I release Underground Street Racing as a print and play.  Below is a link to each article in the series with a one sentence summary about its topic.

Articles:

The Controlling Idea 
The importance of developing a controlling idea that you will refer back to help guide your decisions as you develop your game. 

Avoiding the trap of Theme Vs. Mechanics - Most Read

How the controlling idea makes it easier to tweak your theme and mechanics in your board game design.

Translating the Controlling Idea Into Theme and Mechanics

A conceptual breakdown on how to turn your controlling idea into game actions that fit your theme.

Iterative Design

Improving your board game mechanics, theme, and controlling idea by making iterative designs of your board game.

Writing it Down - Has Link to Print and Play of Underground Street Racing

How the processes of writing down the rules of the game reveals potential problems that you can fix before play testing.


Bonus Article:


Playtesting the Controlling Idea


A follow up article to the Game Design Philosophy series that shows how to use the controlling idea to better utilize feedback from playtesting.

Classic Lecture Series - Retrospective

The Classic Lecture Series is about great game mechanics in older board games.  Each lecture highlights a specific mechanic/concept and talks about what makes that mechanic great.  Below is a link to each article in the series with a one sentence summary about its topic.

Articles:

Introduction - Learning to Think Ahead - Tic Tac Toe, Checkers, and Connect Four
The Introduction explains the goal of the lecture series and how simple games, like Tic Tac Toe, teach new players to strategically think ahead.

Game Etiquette - Candy Land
Game Etiquette highlights the importance of using a simple game like Candy Land to teach proper behavior to board game players.

Dxterity - Hungry Hungry Hippos, Pick Up Sticks, and Janga
Dxterity explores what are the benefits for designing a game with a dexterity mechanic.

Telling a Story - The Game of Life and Clue
Telling a Story emphasises that board games are an opportunity for the players to create a story to share with each other .

Moves That Mess With Your Opponents - Sorry
Moves That Mess With Your Opponents points out how interaction with players comes from both corporation and by hindering other players from being able to succeed.

 Secrete Information - Clue (Most Read)
Secrete Information breaks down the three central questions that must be answered in a game that uses a secrete information mechanic.

Hand Management -UNO
Hand Management explains how card games, like UNO, is really a combination of multiple mechanics.

Communicating With a Partner Through Game Play - Euchre
Communicating With a Partner Through Game Play highlights how players can interact by working together through just their actions taking place within the game.

Real Time with Simultaneous Moves - Soccer, Speed, & Boggle (2nd Most Read)
Real Time with Simultaneous Moves demonstrates how to use the mechanic to create tension and relief within a board game.

Negotiations - Risk
Negotiations lists the ways that negotiation mechanics alters a board game.

Conclusion - Diplomacy
In the Conclusion I explain how and why the topics for the Classics Lecture Series originate from the game Diplomacy.