Hello again world :)

My day started out with a lot of writing.. writing about my newest game "Startups". While I was writing it suddenly hit me - "Is this really the best name for my game?"

To be honest I wasn't quite sure - though I've been going over this brainstorm so many times. In the end I came to the conclusion (again)... that Startups is a good name because it relates to the theme and mechanics of the game - but it's not without drawbacks.

So with this in mind I started this post - enjoy :)
 

A project's name
Every project has to start out with a name... a working title so to speak.
But you have to keep in mind - that it's a bit too easy to let your project's name convert into the name of your board game. This may happen if you run out of time and haven't really paid any attention to the fact that you're missing a name.

The importance of a name
Then.. as your project starts coming towards a conclusion the concerns about the "real" name comes back - "What am I going to call this board game?"

I think this is important - far too important to be concluded over a single brainstorm or the initial idea that triggered the game creation itself.
You have to find the right name for several reasons:

• You probably need a website with that specific name
• It will have to stick once it goes into production... no turning back there.
• Is it easy to pronounce?
• Does it work in text?
• Will it explain the game?
  

An example is my own game - Startups... it's easy to pronounce and you don't have to translate it... but as you can check for yourself the domain names are already taken. This wasn't a big problem for me because I wasn't going to sell the board game myself (see previous article about webshops).

But I ran into a different problem with my board game's name Startups - Which was the English grammar rules...
I don't pretend to know much about grammar I just hope that I spell correctly from time to time ;) But even I could see the problem with writing "Startups is" instead of "Startups are"... it sounds and looks wrong and will be a thorn in my eye until I launch my new game :D
 

Brainstorming - Name inspiration
When it comes to finding inspiration... going to www.boardgamegeek.com is always a lot of help - also when looking for names :)
Try looking for computer games with the same theme / game play as your board game. Just to get you started.

I usually start a good name brainstorm with dissecting my game... going through the mechanics, player situations and game pieces to see if I can find a good phrase or name.

• What would the players call themselves in my game? (ex. Conquers, Saviors or Bezzerwizzer)
• Does the game allow players to be trapped - provoking feelings? (ex. Prisoners, Escaping)
• Is there a strong theme or is the game set in a specific time period? (ex. Ancient China, Space Travel)
• Is the game about strategy, action, knowledge or money?
  

From here on - it's up to you.... what's catchy, what can you wrap around your tongue?

Looking forward to see your crazy suggestions out there in the stores - Happy gaming! :)

Hey people,

I hope you've had a wonderful weekend with lots of board game moments - I know I had :)
This weekend I was testing one of my new board game prototypes that's based on a computer game. Actually several of my board games are....

Therefore I want to give you some names on computer games that has inspired me and that I think you should check out :)

Later this week I'll make a post about just how you can turn computer game aspects into playable board games!
 

Transport Tycoon
Transport Tycoon is a great game with fun "old school" build mode and many interesting economy elements. The brick by brick building makes for some interesting projects - and monitoring how well your transport company is doing is fun when playing against real opponents.

Diablo
A great role playing game (RPG) with a low entrance barrier for new gamers. The whole aspect of picking a specific hero and then equip him or her with weapons, armor and loot you find on your slain enemies is fantastic. Spells, damage types, enemies, environment.. it all add up to this involving universe where you want to explore every corner of every map.
 

Starcraft
I can find many real time strategy (RTS) games that I like.. but never one that comes close to the time I've spend on Starcraft - trying to master it! Starcraft is a triumph when it comes to balancing and unit diversion. Whenever you think balancing - think Starcraft!

Grand Theft Auto
Ever wonder how a "free world / sandbox" game looks like. GTA is the answer - and that's a high quality answer. You can do almost anything here - and there's no restrictions on how you have to play the game - though there are goals. I don't know if any board game could ever get close to this sandbox concept. But I would salute those trying!
 

Silent Hunter
It's hard to come around the tension and atmosphere you find in Silent Hunter (submarine simulator). As a submarine captain you have to navigate through hostile waters in search for your prey. The whole "fog of war / aiming in the dark" aspect is hard to find in board games. But if the result can be anywhere near the atmosphere from Silent Hunter it would be worth exploring.

Battlefield
The battlefield games are great shooters and worth knowing (and playing) when we talk about fun combat with tanks, planes, infantry and what not. Shooters aren't easy to turn into board games but they still have many interesting features... ex how easy you switch from driving a jeep to flying a helicopter and how this suddenly changes the premises for your involvement in the game.
 

Total War
This is the ultimate clone between real time strategy and turn-based strategy... there's no equal! And the scale of battles is a chapter all by itself - stunning! You can learn many things from both aspects of the game.... the variety of gameplay, the many units and formations, and the whole region conquering works very well. 
 
 Sins of a Solar Empire
My favorite in space strategy game! Loads of upgrades and interesting planets to explore. Many ways of forcing influence on your opponents bases. Huge fortifications and many different space vessels that make it fun to fight battles in outer space. Like Starcraft they use 3 different races to insure ever changing gameplay.

Remember
This is just a short list - I could write many more... I'm sure you can find other cool games I haven't mentioned for one or more reasons (one being the goal of not having too long articles on my blog)...

Go out and explore some new cool computer games - and drag them to the board game table afterwards - you never know what might come of it ;)

Happy gaming on both fronts!

Hello again board gamers,

In this post I'd like to go through a very subjective/individual topic when it comes to board games - which is evaluation and comparison.

I think it's important if you're going to create your own board game - that you have a base of knowledge about what does and doesn't work in other board games.

Actually - I'd recommend you to "study/evaluate" this across platforms because computer games in many cases are board games with a virtual interface - It's all about core gameplay (I'll have to visit that in another post) ... :)
 

Evaluation Table
First off - you should create an evaluation table in where you can place the board games next to each other. Excel is always good for keeping things organized!

When you have written down all the games you want to evaluate - you have to figure out what precisely you're looking for - what data do you want?

Here are some of the questions I used for my list:

• The difficulty of the rules
• The amount of dice / random actions
• Unit diversity
  
• Flow of action (when is it your turn again?)
• Is there player domination / elimination?
• Do alliances vary and are they contributing to the game?
• Length of a single game
• Is it for casual gamers?
• Is it for hardcore gamers?
• Does the start of the game vary from game to game?
• What about mid-game and end-game?
  

Remember
This is a very individual matter - and my list is minded only on strategy games.
(ex. Starcraft, Axis & Allies, Risk, Memoir, Civ, HoI, Total War, Diplomacy) 
 

The Evaluation
Now that you have all the game data listed. It's time to evaluate on it.
Here I usually use 3 levels (easy/good , medium/ok , hard/bad) to keep it simple.

These graduations can't stand alone of course... You'll have to write down why you're choosing "easy" instead of "medium" etc.

This should give you a good overview of what game mechanics and game designs that work.... and in the end this can help you create a better game!



Remember
You can easily do this with other board games like Trivial Pursuit, Cluedo and Pandemic.

So... get on with your evaluation - and happy gaming :)

As a business man or woman it's important to have your contact information available at all time.
A business card is "of course" the answer - also for board game developers :)

In this post I'll try to go through some business card examples for inspiration. Hopefully you'll never have to miss a business opportunity because people forgot about you.

And don't stop here.... remember there are lots of blogs, pictures and inspiration to gather on the net about design of business card.

Classic Business Cards
Most of us can probably agree that the classic business card is a bit doll and doesn't really depict your creative skills.

Never the less you need to have a business card that you can hand people leaving no questions how to get in contact with you and a classic version is easy and cheap to produce.

Remember
There's really no need to order 300 business cards from your printer just because you get a better price per unit.


Think about the environment and where are you going to hand out 300 cards anyway?
And what if you change contact informations next week?

Create or order 50-70 cards at a time - then you'll spend them and your money wisely :)
 

The classic with a twist
Using common materials (like cardboard) and sizes (approximately: 8 x 5 cm) is a good base.

You could then give it a theme that matches your work and attitude towards it.

At the right you see the 3 business cards we used in the computer game company I worked in before I went for board game development.

As you can see we portrayed our professional qualifications through a character card usually seen in a roleplaying game.
The cards were created by my friend and former colleague August Hansen (prof: Illustrator) - www.geniusmalignus.com
 

Different business cards
For lack of better word - I'll call these cards different - because unique is such a buzzword with little meaning.

These business cards doesn't really have to be cards as long as they have the relevant information and is easy to store away.
No matter your creativity or brand - if your card isn't handy the reciever might just throw it away!

Can you fulfill the two requirements - then "knock yourself out"
There's really no limit for what's possible when it comes to creating different business cards.

On the picture you can see I decided to use poker chips containing only 4 key informations - and these chips are very easy to put away in your wallet and so on.
This "business card" is primarily connected to my first board game (Startups) and most people can recognize a poker chip.

I hope this gave you some inspiration :)
Until next time - Happy gaming!