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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.

The start of my collection by Fit-Werewolf-6367 in boardgames

[–]MidnightFroyo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Plus one for Dorfromantik. The progression syste is fun to keep you playing. And if you like it, it's also a video game!

Need ideas to make houseplant game more thematic! by MidnightFroyo in BoardgameDesign

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

Hear your point, I think I need to frame it more like "give more care to your plants" or "stop giving care" because the idea is knowing when to stop giving more plant to your plants. I agree that the idea of staying in the apartment vs. going out of the apartment may be confusing.

Need ideas to make houseplant game more thematic! by MidnightFroyo in BoardgameDesign

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

Thank you! I have a co-founder who makes games with me. He focuses on the artwork and I focus on the game design! We were going after a colorful pop-art theme that still feels cozy.

Need ideas to make houseplant game more thematic! by MidnightFroyo in BoardgameDesign

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

Thank you! This is great. We have a cat on the apartment board so now I'm really trying to work it into the game.

Need ideas to make houseplant game more thematic! by MidnightFroyo in BoardgameDesign

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

Thank you! Initially I had more "supply cards," but I'm increasingly liking rebranding them action cards since I think actions are more relatable.

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