![]() Hey board game developer :) I wanted to share some experiences I've had with board game production. I've been working on my own board game "Burning Suns" for almost a year now, and I thought it would be foolish not to share the knowledge I've gained over the many months. My team and I are working alongside each other on both prototype and final components, and we're all working very coherently and close together in order to make sure things stay within the project scope and our goals are the same. I'll try to go through some of the different digital production elements here. Enjoy :) ![]() The index of all things (I'm assuming that you're already well on the way with the ideas, blossoming in both text documents and drawings ;-) Your first step is to create the "box" in which all things will be stored and sorted. You'll want to be very systematic in order to make sure everything is just as you want them to be.
(e.g. in folder "1 - Rules") Early prototype rules ver2. (e.g. in folder "6 - Player tokens") Elves - Leader token ver3. Download the following spreadsheets to view some examples.
![]() The project website of a board game production Your next task is to create a project website for your board game. This will be the reference point for everyone involved in the production (no need to say, that this needs to be password protected ;) You'll find a web solution like Weebly (that I'm using myself) to be very handy. A lot of "drag and drop" equals no trouble focusing on other things. On this website you'll include subjects like
Make sure that it's regularly updated - and that you give your team everything they need in order to complete their tasks. ![]() A few last things... When you start to include people in the production process, make sure that you guys have a sharing method that works. I like to use "SugarSync", so that we're all working on the same files - and that I don't get into any problems with different versions etc. Without a syncing tool - you'll find yourself doing too much upload / download / back / forth with your email box. Let your email box handle the communication with your team - not the file transfers. Get an early economical perspective When you settle on some of your production choices, it is time for you to look into the economy side of your board game project. In other words... you should get an early quote on your production breakdown, and run through your financial possibilities - in the end - if your project doesn't become sustainable, you won't be able to do this as often as you would like to ;) I hope this will put you off to a good start on your own board game production. Happy gaming and holidays out there! :)
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![]() Heyho my fellow gamers, Now... I'm going to talk about how to find different useful materials for your board game prototype. We now it all starts with a prototype - and this is the phase where you want to keep your expenses as low as possible while maintaining a fairly convincing prototype. So - where should you go and pick up materials for your next board game prototype? I have a few suggestions that I've been somewhat successful with. ![]() The $1, €1 or "Tiger" stores... You probably already know them.. this is where you find cheap Halloween costumes, the 1 trip umbrella, crazy straws, b-movie DVDs and the list goes on! These stores are stuffed with things you wouldn't need in 1000 years... But but but... there's also a hidden treasure lying around waiting for you to discover it :) Many of these stores have generic board game pieces for Domino, Two of a kind, 4 in a row, Stratego and so on. ![]() Flea markets and charity shops This is probably where you get the most for your hard earned bucks. In flea markets you'll be lucky to find old board games or toys that you might use.. Furthermore there are always a lot of hobby stands and people with same interests - so you'll also be sure to find "alternative" ways of creating or developing your board game prototype. Why not use cheap pearls for resources, or use the backside of a jigsaw puzzle for board. There are many alternative ways of refilling your stock of prototype materials ;) ![]() The local ebay variant Yea I know... ebay might not be the easiest place to find cheap board games or materials - It's all collector's edition or full packages of some sort. But you might have a "local ebay" of some kind.. a newspaper or a website. You can be lucky to find people here selling out of old storages or the likes... And in general Be on the lookout for sales in your local toy store, book store and so on.. It'll really help you create cheap board game prototypes :) Happy gaming to you all! ![]() Hello guys and girls, Today I’m going to talk about the colors of board game figures and what you should be aware of when choosing these for your own games. In my opinion choosing the right colors for your board game pieces is very important because they represent a big part of the board game experience. I'll try to take you through some of the factors that may affect your choice of colors for your components. Some of this may also rely on component details, shape and material - but I'll have to take that up in another post. ![]() 1) Realistic look? If you're going for a realistic look it's important to use colors that lie close to the real colors of the objects the board game pieces are portraying. A fine example of this are Axis & Allies and Memoir '44 that are using earth-like colors. They've struck a fine line between realism and “what's possible”, as we all know it would be impossible to play the game if all troops/pieces were wearing green camouflage, which of course would be preferred on most real battlefields ;-) ![]() 2) How many pieces and how easy are they to spot on the board? One other thing you also have to take into account is how many different colors you’re looking for. Yea, it may sound a bit odd when there’s so many colors to choose from, but you've to remember that some colors may also be heavily represented on the board itself which means it may not be wise to use them on figures as well. Remember The smaller the components get the harder it is to differentiate dark colors. ![]() 3) Patterns? So what about patterns on the components? This could be an option if you want colorblind people to have a fair chance playing your board game. This could also be a "easy" way to differentiate the components from one another and from other games in general.... Remember This would probably have to be done with stickers or an extra layer of paint in post production etc. - I haven't heard of any cost effecient ways of creating color patterns in molds. ![]() 4) Indie production? When doing indie board game production - there's usually one problem - money/funding! Therefore you might want to stick to the genuine colors like black, white, red, blue etc. which is produces “en mass” by most suppliers. Just remember that colors affect gameplay and therefore changing them might give you or solve problems - when people try to understanding your game. You can try to search the web for color studies and see what colors that match each other etc... There's only one way to go about colors - try them on for size! Until next time - Happy gaming :) |
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