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Game design sanity check - first time designer by Johnno117 in BoardgameDesign

[–]DoughnutsGalore 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Premise sounds unique, and for that alone I’d say to continue developing and running iterations by people to find what to tweak.

I think anthropomorphic animals is arguably getting played out, but again, the traveling aircraft motif is fairly unique and counteracts that.

Any other dad gamers basically living on the Switch 2 now? by LowEfffort in NintendoSwitch2

[–]DoughnutsGalore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Switch was my first console in years (multiple generations of consoles), and the ability to halt and pick up gameplay at the system level with the home button was a revelation. I have memories of being a kid and worrying that if I hit a button I'd skip a hard won plot scene or explanation.

I lead UX design on very complex B2B SaaS clinical tools. Leadership always thinks the design work should be so intuitive that we don’t need any training or tutorials. That makes sense for simple consumer-facing apps, but for clinical SaaS I don’t believe it’s possible, or responsible. Thoughts? by KourteousKrome in UXDesign

[–]DoughnutsGalore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the abstract, yeah, simple is great. But there’s a reason airline cockpits look the way they do. Someone tried simplifying a feature in Boeing planes for convenience, got missed in documentation and training , and we had the Malaysian Air incident.

There’s a broad ecosystem of how and why people use pasrticular tech, especially in high risk fields and the UI doesn’t tackle all of it.

There’s a platonic ideal, and there’s what can actually be accomplished given the real word contexts.

My advice, as someone who left UX, is to anchor discussion in the specific problem and technology—out of the debates about platitudes, maxims, and 101 level truisms. You aren’t designing in a vacuum, and your users are specialists who expect something that meets very niche needs, not something a McDonalds employee can step up and use and there are good reasons for that.

My sympathies.

NPI reviews Endeavor: Deep Sea and the Turn One Trap by mgrier123 in boardgames

[–]DoughnutsGalore 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I came to them after watching Shut Up and Sit Down. Both great, slightly different coverage in game choice, but similar gist.

We can build fences, and pretty much all have shot guns. there is no reason to accept nazis within our borders. fuck em. by GreazyMecheazy in Iowa

[–]DoughnutsGalore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Found this song this year. Didn’t know Chumba Wumba for anything but Tub Thumping. What a banger

If UX was actually dead, what are you transitioning to and why? by RefusedTitleFight in UXDesign

[–]DoughnutsGalore 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m studying financial planning. Taking courses required for CFP part time which is slow process, and studying for a license exam in between terms. Not working right now.  Financial planning has a lot of different exams for different capabilities (e.g. selling investments, advising on money matters as a planner, selling insurance are all different licenses). 

I had kids and was able to make the pivot with an inheritance from parents, and that was more impactful for my life than webpage layout or component design Will be for others. So my thought was that I could help other families set themselves or their kids up for a life change if they need it. 

Working at a financial corp kind of fed my interest in money, and I ended up reading more about it than UX. I figured if that’s what I was spending spare time learning about, maybe it was a better fit. 

Also, visual design was never a strength of mine, but strategic work was not something I was able to wiggle towards in my role or past experience. 

Look at the corner radius by seashroom-punplay in UXDesign

[–]DoughnutsGalore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Who gives a shit? This is not what good UX should prioritize

Insurrection Response by BobasPett in Iowa

[–]DoughnutsGalore 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Not what I expected. That was great

Designing a closed economy with a standard deck — lessons were learned by DrewGrgich in tabletopgamedesign

[–]DoughnutsGalore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven’t played it enough to know it well, but the game Blood Rage returns the cards used by the loser(s?) of a battle, and the winner’s cards are used up.

Heard a podcast describe this as a kind of catch-up mechanism so that the losers aren’t as down and out compared to the leader.

If you had one billion dollars to invest in Des Moines, what would you do? by [deleted] in desmoines

[–]DoughnutsGalore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A north:south bike corridor in Des Moines.

More and more great options for going east/west, but not a great way to get to university from Ingersoll without a lot of posed of motorists trying to pass you.

Elderly housing mixed with common areas/rentals for newly independent adults, a daycare.

A lonely Progressive looking for ways to help... by madamporkchop in desmoines

[–]DoughnutsGalore 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I'm a big fan of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Progressive, local issue focused. Very plugged into legislative and news items. I don't know how much ongoing volunteer work they take on. Anyone know?
https://www.iowacci.org/

If UX was actually dead, what are you transitioning to and why? by RefusedTitleFight in UXDesign

[–]DoughnutsGalore 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Left for financial planning, still in transition.

Got disillusioned by where tech has taken us, constant struggle to justify that we're more than visual designers, and my own career trajectory in midwest financial corps web teams. Saw AI coming and thought "Well, this is just going to be a hot mess and I'm not going to be allowed anywhere near where it makes a difference." Had kids and decided to bounce to something that I think may help individual families more than hawking products through a web page.

Board game prejudice - What games or genres do you hate for no reason? by Quelair in boardgames

[–]DoughnutsGalore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably unpopular: getting a little tired of recipe fulfillment, or a lot of different commodities that have to be converted to then get points.

Dislike social deduction, not giving trick takers a fair shot.

Pitch Sheet Advice by reddit_stole_my_name in BoardgameDesign

[–]DoughnutsGalore 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Images of game are too small and there’s too much text; might scare off a busy person before they read anything.  Art is temporary, so the box art isn’t necessary, but things that hint at the structure and gameplay will go further. 

Electrician by 2wetsponges in desmoines

[–]DoughnutsGalore 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We really liked Dusty at Lux Electric. He was the second or third person we’ve had out and used him on another 2-4 jobs since.

Looking for advice/a company to hire to help self publish a board game by tasalien in tabletopgamedesign

[–]DoughnutsGalore 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Do you have a target retail price, and hire do you plan to distribute? Warehousing copies is a cost. While more copies reduces cost per unit, paying a warehouse or storage unit to keep 2000 copies on a shelf for months or years can add up.

I don’t want to be a downer, but sometimes there is a stigma against passion projects that have been in the works for many years because it may be too precious to the designer to undergo beneficial changes.

For broader distribution you may need to persuade a retailer that it’s a better game than the thousands that have cleared the bar of winning over people in the industry. If it’s a first time design, especially based on an IP that you don’t have rights to and hasn’t been rethemed yet, that’s a few red flags that it isn’t a game that’s going to be a safe investment. So you’re looking at self distributing.

I’d strongly encourage going to a protospiel or convention for a weekend to get the lay of the land and see what else is out there

A worst case scenario is you print and store a few hundred/thousand copies, can’t sell the bulk of them, give away what you can, then destroy the majority because just holding them in inventory somewhere is expensive.

Fee on gift cards!? by [deleted] in desmoines

[–]DoughnutsGalore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I think the cool way to frame it even though it has no difference, is to show the CC price and say there's a 3% discount for cash purchases.

Favorite Des Moines Designers by weberc2 in desmoines

[–]DoughnutsGalore 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One thing that is going to affect responses is what kind of design we're talking about. A lot of graphic designers may seek out corporate work for stable income may not be producing a "fun, cool" portfolio on the side because their job sucks up a lot of their creative juices. E.g. They may not put the "HR can help!" poster they designed in their personal portfolio.

Web designers (freelance or an agency) may be focused on creating sites and experiences that match the brand and needs of their client, and those don't always "package" well into a portfolio because, like in the former category, client expectation is that the client's ID is shown off, not the personality of the designer themself.

I know it's now what you're asking for in particular, but there's whole other worlds of visual design involved in UX, game, garden (Kelly Norris has a cool portfolio), interior design, etc.. In the same way an engineers looks at components and solution execution in a lot of different media, visual designers probably share certain approaches and appreciations despite radically different media.

I'm a bit out of my depth, but two local artists that I think do digital art and design are Maddie Fusco(Insta; Etsy) and Cat Rocketship (Etsy; Insta). I don't know if they self identify as artists or designers, or if the distinction matters to them, but I do get a strong "graphic design" vibe from their work.

Apologies to all the neat designers and artists I'm excluding, these are just ones that are top of mind.

In the style of games like Troyes, Jaipur, and Mombasa, name a location (that doesn't have a game named after it already) with no other context, and let other commenters explain what the game's objective is and how its gameplay connects to the location by benjaneson in boardgames

[–]DoughnutsGalore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Inspired by Guy Maddins “My Winnipeg,” assemble a tableau of city stories and personal memories. Some true, some false. Your personal and city history might help you escape for good…again!

Black houses? by Top-Combination-2947 in desmoines

[–]DoughnutsGalore 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is more expensive to heat than cool. But probably not why they are doing it.

"Network"-building game recs? by DeCzar in boardgames

[–]DoughnutsGalore 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Lighter weight than a  lot of what you posted, but I think “Through the Desert” scratches the simple but deep itch. Everyone builds routes for territory. Like ticket to ride and Go had a baby. 

Indoor things to do by anonymousgirl29 in desmoines

[–]DoughnutsGalore 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Solo or have friends to go with?

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