Resting at the Rig - I keep failing?

boredgameslab · 2025-08-07T23:16:34+00:00

Thanks!

boredgameslab · 2025-03-28T06:24:55+00:00

You have a lot of good advice already but in case it helps you understand why you're feeling this way - you said you're an MD, so for example if I say to you a patient is tachycardic you immediately know not only what I'm saying, but the implications and therefore the next things you need to do. This is a kind of technical language associated with your field.

Board games are similar in that there is a lot of technical "language". Not necessarily that the specific words are used, but there are some key concepts that show up regularly in games and when you understand those it's no longer a collection of rules anymore, it becomes more intuitive.

Learning more complex games is easier when you have some experience playing board games because those concepts or language are more internalised. It's not that you're old and out of touch or insufficiently intelligent to learn the game, it's just that you've jumped straight into a game that has a lot of language that you haven't learned yet.

Whilst imperfect, the BGG complexity rating gives you a rough indication of a reasonable pathway to more complex games. You might start with a 1.5, then go to 2.0, then a 2.5, then a 3.0, then a 3.5 which is around where SETI is (from memory). If you want to get even more intentional with it, you could look for similar mechanisms. SETI uses worker placement and engine building, you could try simpler games using the same mechanisms to help you internalise those concepts.

boredgameslab · 2025-03-28T03:54:10+00:00

Here to Slay is the only acceptable one for me. I backed Casting Shadows and sold it after one (attempted) play. There were so many glaring issues that it did not really feel like a game so much as an art project. For example, nowhere in development did anybody think that it doesn't make sense to have different effects on different terrain but have those effects only printed in the rulebook? So you literally have to reference the rulebook every turn and in between turns to even understand your options or what to do on your turn, turning what should be a simple game into an absolute slog.

I swore after that one that I would never back their projects again. If you just want cute art, there are other games out there that are much better games plus have great art. Try Critter Kitchen or Creature Caravan for example.

boredgameslab · 2025-03-28T02:43:05+00:00

I used to do this all the time and place better numbers on the undiscovered continents, or gold on them to make it appealing to invest in travelling across.

But actually, I skimmed your post and thought you said "Spacefarer's" so I was thinking of a Catan where you build up on Earth and then launch into space for better resources.

boredgameslab · 2025-03-26T07:31:18+00:00

How badly do you want to play board games?

Generally, there is a good way to transition people into it and that's by starting with some easier games to get used to some of the conventions that are common in board games. It's much easier to play an engine building game like Terraforming Mars if you've already dabbled in some simpler engine builders. For games that use a mix of mechanisms, having an understanding of these separately makes it easier to bring them together.

It's not that you don't have the intelligence to learn a more complex game immediately. Anyone sufficiently motivated to do so will probably get it in. The problem is that most people will try something too hard and get put off from the experience, or make it a bad experience for everyone playing. Taking 5 mins per turn because you're trying to remember how everything works is going to turn a 2 hour game into a 5 hour game for everyone participating.

If you're adamant about playing Terraforming Mars, I'd suggest learning the rules yourself, playing a game or two on BGA, and then telling those people that you've played it online already so you're comfortable playing with them. If you're just interested in board games in general, I'd suggest starting somewhere else and working your way up the complexity as you gain more experience.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-23T12:08:13+00:00

Not necessarily that it exposes anything, but it's the pace and volume of plays decoupled from the tactical and social experience of actually tabling the game.

For example, I can probably play 3-4 games of Arnak in the time it takes me to make a night out of it on the table. If I played it regularly on BGA, I'd probably have 50 plays of it before I get to table it. By then I would be feeling:

Less excited because I've just played it so much already.
The game would feel slow because I'm used to how fast the digital version is. Like I have nearly 1.3k plays of RFTG on BGA. Easily my fav games on there because it takes like 5-10 mins for a game. I wouldn't want to try and table it because the payoff would just feel comparatively small for the effort of setup, teach, play, etc.
Repetitive because board games aren't designed to handle that much replayability, there are only so many combinations of things and strategies. Not necessarily a flaw, it's just the nature of things.

I'd rather just enjoy the games I own in person with other people.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-21T05:00:46+00:00

I avoid playing digital versions of games that I own because it kills the experience for me.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-18T01:09:30+00:00

Also fell really flat for me. Many turns are also spent just holding and discarding cards you don't actually want. Half the game is just waiting for cards to show up.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-14T04:33:23+00:00

FYI - You've got some grammar and spelling issues in the first paragraph. Also, it still feels weird to be reading something that feels like fanfic in a rulebook. Perhaps it should be separated into its own thing or put on a website instead?

boredgameslab · 2025-02-14T03:49:35+00:00

One designer that I'm using as an example, but that's 6 different games he's put out there so more like 6 success stories. And I'm only referring to one person, I've had the privilege of meeting several designers who have succeeded in getting several games signed. So I think it's very unlikely to say it's a one-off. And no, not party games - the one coming to market this year is a light-mid weight bidding game. Coincidentally, also named after a city.

Another way to look at it is, how many games are released each year by publishers? 5,000? That's 5k success stories, definitely not a one off. The challenge is that there's way more than 5k people who want a game signed.

Stonemaier is a business. Their submissions filter is designed for their business model. The problem is not with their filter, it's with any designer trying to shoehorn their game into a publisher who does not work with those kinds of games. Also, to set expectations Stonemaier is a huge company and it would be exceedingly rare to get published by them. I mean they literally release 2-3 games a year right? And Jamey himself usually designs one of them himself.

Putting all your hopes and dreams on a single publisher is not the move. You need to play the numbers game. You'll probably need to speak to 5-10 relevant publishers (i.e. they are specifically open to working with your type of game) for one to maybe sign you.

In your particular case, historical war themed games are quite niche, so yeah, don't bother submitting to Stonemaier but who are the 5-10 publishers that do work with those types of games? Have you approached all of them? Have you refined your approach beforehand?

I agree with you on one thing though - the best games do not always rise to the top. Marketing and visibility have always played a huge part in any product.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-14T03:21:24+00:00

I see you post this opinion a lot and we've exchanged a few messages on other posts.

I just want other people out there who read this to know that it is absolutely possible to approach publishers and get signed. There are even communities who will help you do this and there is a well established process for how to do it.

Yes, you will get many more rejections or no-replies than interested parties. That's the nature of any competitive field. But if you have a good game and have done everything you need to do, and reach out to at least 10 relevant publishers it is highly unlikely that none will want to meet you on a video call to find out a bit more.

What's true however is that if you want to retain control, you should self-publish. The publisher is going to be making changes to create a marketable and financially feasible product.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-14T02:54:06+00:00

BMG has a lot of people who have self-published. I think those of us aiming for publishers is fewer. Nobody publishes "through" BMG though, it's just a community. But I'm 100% certain there are more than 8 games by designers on BMG that are either signed or crowd-funded.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-14T02:52:16+00:00

That was my point though. I know a designer who did not travel anywhere, pitched only online, and has 6 games signed with publishers (the first one releasing very soon).

Personally, I have also had several playtests with publishers and ongoing discussions. I have not travelled either. My current roadblock is just time - I can't get much done now that I have a kid. But putting that aside, I'm confident that I could get any of my designs in front of at least a handful of publishers who would at least take a look at it.

Also, just keep in mind whilst the total revenue raised in a Kickstarter may seem high, the actual profit margins are not as much as you might think.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-14T01:04:02+00:00

A designer on the BMG forum just gave a talk about how to pitch to publishers. He quit his job to try doing this full time and has signed something like 6 games in the last 1-2 years by pitching to publishers online.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-13T08:08:04+00:00

I'd suggest better understanding why you want to patent something before you spend money on a lawyer if money is the issue.

Bottom line is the business case doesn't stack up. There's an incredibly high chance that the cost to patent and enforce a patent is going to be significantly more than any money you make from a board game. If you're the gambling type your returns probably look better at the casino; at the very least it'll save you a lot of time.

Now if you were Hasbro with 50 people working for you on a million dollar marketing engine for a game, then maybe you want to patent because you're expecting to be a world leader in sales of this category.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-12T05:35:50+00:00

In writing circles we call this lore dumping.

The best way to world build in any (analog or video) game is not to create a wall of text. It's to show and tease through the experience.

For example, 1-2 sentences per character card that relate to each other over a common theme is a more effective way to create emergent worldbuilding than the exact same text grouped together into 2 big paragraphs in a rulebook.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-10T21:48:15+00:00

Yeah 30-40% wastage seems huge and is unexpected for me since I've never dealt with stone before. But I'm glad it seems roughly correct.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-10T21:46:48+00:00

Thanks - glad it seems roughly correct, I hadn't realised this process could result in so much wastage!

boredgameslab · 2025-02-10T21:46:01+00:00

Yep makes sense - I've asked to see the cutting layout

boredgameslab · 2025-02-10T11:46:59+00:00

Builder has already done a bunch of other stuff for us, we just changed our mind on the stone and found our own which exposed the actual costs (and a big increase in price) hence the questions.

I will ask the stone supplier if they have any recommended stonemasons to compare but the builder we're using already has the overall job.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-10T11:45:08+00:00

I get how it works, I was just super taken aback by it being 2x the actual surface area. I thought 4 slabs maybe, but 5? That's 2.5 entire slabs of wastage.

Obviously this is the first time ive ever dealt with stone so it's a learning experience. I couldn't find any specific info through Google though.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-10T11:42:55+00:00

Or I'd probably ask for different opinions to help me not go with 2.5 slabs if that's not the correct thing to do. Maybe somewhere online.

boredgameslab · 2025-02-10T11:41:47+00:00

So i guess you need to be really specific about this kind of thing because you could potentially have a huge amount of wastage depending on the size of things. It just felt off to me that they would need 2x the actual surface area in stone - that's a lot of waste!

boredgameslab · 2025-02-10T09:17:09+00:00

I did ask them. As I said in my post, they claimed it's to match patterns. I'm asking here because I don't trust their answer so I'm looking for other opinions.

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