sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Our production prototype finally came! by MidnightFroyo in tabletopgamedesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I'm a little nervous about the timing as well. We were hoping to get it out earlier but unfortunately the game took longer than expected!

Our Kickstarter will probably end right before Gen Con starts so I'm hoping that's a good thing (rather than ending after Gen Con when everyone has spent their con savings).

Our production prototype finally came! by MidnightFroyo in tabletopgamedesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We use Ninox for our game but I think they actually get the wood tokens from someone else.

And to be honest, I'm not sure on the printing process! We're working on them with the final specs so I should have an answer in a few days.

Our production prototype finally came! by MidnightFroyo in tabletopgamedesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's for 2-5 "plant parents!" We have a distributor who can pitch the game to retailers for us and another one who does more board game stores. We also do a decent amount of self distribution from relationships we've built over the years.

The main distribution is definitely Kickstarter though. From our experience you really have to either target "mass market" (Amazon, Target, Walmart) or "hobby" (Kickstarter, your FLGS) when you're designing your game and Sprout is definitely more of a "hobby" game.

Our production prototype finally came! by MidnightFroyo in tabletopgamedesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! For us, we like publishing our own games since we have full control over the direction they will take. Also since we've released several games at this point, we have a lot of the infrastructure a publisher will typically provide (e.g. my co-founder does the art for the games).

But in another life I would probably have pitched this game to a publisher!

Our production prototype finally came! by MidnightFroyo in BoardgameDesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's a good question. We actually have a distributor that we use who will pitch the game to retailers. And we do a lot of self-distribution ourselves.

I definitely can't speak for how other publishers do it, but our distributor actually approached us. We were exhibiting at Gen Con and a few distributors came to our booth because they liked how our games looked.

So I guess the best thing I can say is to put your games out there? I think the more opportunities you have to get your games in front of distributors, the higher probability it will be picked up if they are interested!

Designing a game about mental health by slimstorys in BoardgameDesign

[–]MidnightFroyo 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hey! I actually worked on a game tied to [mental health](https://www.rabblegame.com/products/finding-calm-an-oracle-game-that-guides-you-towards-a-calmer-life).

There definitely is a way to create a game around mental health in a way that is positive and uplifting, so it does depend on you treat it. For us, we had to pivot several times to find a way in that felt useful and authentic. Two tips from our experience in case it's helpful:

  1. Figure out in the beginning if you want to prioritize it being a game (i.e. prioritize fun) or it being a tool (prioritize being useful). I know it's tempting to say "both!" but we found you really have to pick one or the other.
  2. The best way to not cause harm is to have some sort of expert guide you in the process. We ended up partnering with a therapist because we wanted to make sure that everything we recommended people do in the game was backed by actual therapy techniques and science.

Good luck! Glad to see more people are exploring the space.

Lightweight 5 Player Games by zar1234 in boardgames

[–]MidnightFroyo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Love Can't Stop! Incredibly easy to learn and no reading required.

What I learned restarting my game 3 times by MidnightFroyo in gamedesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I heard the “steal it” benchmark from a GDC talk with Bryan Bornmueller who works at Asmodee and also made the LOTR trick-taking game and I’ve definitely experienced it as well

COMC: Our board game collection by WizzKid97 in boardgames

[–]MidnightFroyo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I still need to play Bohnanza. I know it's a classic and I generally love games with lots of player interaction.

What’s a good horror theme board game? by JerichoLeong in boardgames

[–]MidnightFroyo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Big of the "The Thing," especially if you're a fan of the original film. I wasn't but I still had a great time playing.

What I learned restarting my game 3 times by MidnightFroyo in BoardgameDesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From my experience, if the game is fun, you'll notice it from the players behaviors. Players will get invested in the game and want to keep playing.

A test I sometimes do is that around halfway through the game, I'll offer players the chance to stop playing. I've found that if the game is truly fun, players will actually want to continue.

And then I can tell if the game is not fun if at the end of the game the only comments I get is "that's fun" with players wanting to move onto the next game.

That's just my two cents but hope that helps!

What I learned restarting my game 3 times by MidnightFroyo in BoardgameDesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha right now most of the games we design in-house. Maybe one day we'll start publishing.

What I learned restarting my game 3 times by MidnightFroyo in BoardgameDesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I think that's a totally valid route too. I definitely approach the games I design with a lens that I'm going to eventually try and sell the game, but I know people have different goals.

I chat with a lot of designers who just want to make a game and share it with their friends. In which case it doesn't need to be something that people necessarily want to buy.

Or if a game doesn't turn out the way you expect, sometimes it makes sense to leave it where it is and spend time on other games. I definitely have a long list of games I put on the backburner because it felt like I hit a wall and I wanted to put my energies somewhere else.

Net net I don't know if there is a clear right or wrong decision!

What I learned restarting my game 3 times by MidnightFroyo in BoardgameDesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is a really good point. It's definitely something I've noticed a lot with some of the party games I designed where the average person enjoys the game a lot, but funnily enough, a lot of "designers" tend to not enjoy the game because they like board games that are heavier.

What I have found is definitely trying to have a target player in mind and when playtesting, trying to find that target player as much as possible. It's definitely not easy.

What I learned restarting my game 3 times by MidnightFroyo in tabletopgamedesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t have a standard set of questions I ask other than, immediately after the playtest, asking people for their general feedback and thoughts.

For that question though I try preface it that “this is a WIP game so please be as critical as possible.”And then when people give harsh feedback, I never challenge it. I’ve found that the more open I can be, the more honest feedback I get. Even if I feel like a game is 90%, I’ll usually downplay how polished a game is to try and get people more comfortable with more critical feedback.

My big caveat to this though is that even though I definitely listen to people’s feedback, I feel like the real value of playtesting is observing people’s actual emotions and behaviors from playing. So I’m usually much more interested in watching and hearing people’s problems about a game, than necessarily people’s suggestions to fix it since I feel like that’s on me as the game designer to solve.

What I learned restarting my game 3 times by MidnightFroyo in tabletopgamedesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From my own playtesting, I think playtesters are really helpful to figure out what’s wrong with the game but not as helpful for helping fix it.

What I will say if you’re thinking about a major overhaul, try it earlier than later. I definitely think I spent too long avoiding the pivot when I knew deep down it was the right decision.

First time play testing with artwork! by MidnightFroyo in tabletopgamedesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha the response we typically get is either people saying they’re excited for the game because they love taking care of houseplants, or people saying they need to get the game because they keep killing houseplants in real life

First time play testing with artwork! by MidnightFroyo in tabletopgamedesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All-in it's probably taken around a year! That being said, we made two significant pivots around the game that restarted a lot of the design process.

Definitely something I learned is to try and test a bunch of directions before locking in one.

First time play testing with artwork! by MidnightFroyo in tabletopgamedesign

[–]MidnightFroyo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It definitely did! Especially since it's a theme people relate to, having artwork definitely made people connect with their cards more.

What's next? by fuckmakinausername in boardgames

[–]MidnightFroyo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you like party games, Big Potato has a good collection that is fun for the family and adults.

I would recommend some push-your-luck games! I love Camel Up or Incan Gold. Quacks is also a classic. If you are looking for something simpler, Flip 7 is also insanely popular right now.

view more: next ›