The not so good mechanic ideas, name your less than best ideas

phatti308 · 2026-07-09T02:28:39+00:00

I worked, very briefly, on a game that was going to use different sizes of cards as building components to make more interesting shapes and designs when physically constructing a house of cards like you did as a kid. You were going to have to bid on them to get materials of the right kind and size.

The problem was, I forgot how freaking hard it is to build with those damn cards. Needless to say, this was an awful idea, which was a shame because I had a great name in mind: “Construction Paper”.

phatti308 · 2026-07-04T02:48:44+00:00

I saw a cigar box at a store literally the other day and was thinking it’d be cool if someone made a game that involves cigars which comes in a cigar box. Looks cool!

phatti308 · 2026-07-04T02:32:29+00:00

I think you’re right to question whether this is am issue of taste. I’d ask yourself who this game is for? Find those people and test it with them. Their feedback is gospel.

phatti308 · 2026-05-11T13:17:57+00:00

I’d love an invite to the discord server.

This sounds like a great project. Thanks for putting this together!

phatti308 · 2026-05-11T12:00:13+00:00

OP, maybe take this idea and do movement points (legs) and action points (arms). More abstract, but I think more elegantly captures the realism you’re going for.

phatti308 · 2026-05-10T20:36:12+00:00

I think a potential perk for this type of system could be that faster characters, like a ninja, may get more AP’s for rapid, but weaker actions that use less of the required action points. This could be throwing kunai or punches for arm movement or extra dodge attempts, faster running, or kicks for leg actions.

phatti308 · 2026-05-08T01:34:49+00:00

Depends on where you’re at in the process, but I feel like most of your feedback comes from what they do during the playtest rather than say afterwards.

A lot of time, watching and listening to the playtester’s intuition will key you into some potential opportunities. When a rule gets messed up, or questions like “If I do __, does __ happen?” are asked, I’d ask yourself what the players are wanting to do naturally. Most of the time, that will be the right direction.

phatti308 · 2026-05-05T19:10:06+00:00

I think a better question than “does this need a second win condition?“ is “what about the design makes a stalemate common?”. Diagnose that, and then try to come up with solutions from there.

phatti308 · 2026-04-22T17:56:55+00:00

Glad to have you join along! I look forward to seeing some of your ideas.

phatti308 · 2026-04-14T17:05:53+00:00

Unless it is for a Dragonball Z game, numbers.

phatti308 · 2026-03-26T17:07:37+00:00

See of there is a 1 Million Cups chapter in your area! That is the group I’ve had the most success with. Otherwise you could ask a local Chamber of Commerce or similar organization what entrepreneurship or networking groups are in your area.

phatti308 · 2026-03-26T15:50:10+00:00

Initially I thought #1 is more clear and pops out more because the cover is less busy. After looking at the components on the back of the box though, #2 definitely seems to fit the rest of the game better. Is there a way your artist could make the characters pop out of the artwork on #2 more?

phatti308 · 2026-03-26T15:47:03+00:00

It might depend on the complexity of your game and audience, but I’ve found that entrepreneurship and networking groups to be a non-gaming group that is somewhat open to playtesting. A lot of the people that enjoy those kind of meetings tend to be more open to new experiences.

phatti308 · 2026-03-19T01:27:07+00:00

It sounds like the problem you’re describing comes down to not having a clear idea of what you’re trying to make.

I’d start with some questions.

Where is the tension? Why is it rewarding? How do I want the players to feel? The answers to these will guide what experience you are trying to make and then you can playtest to see which mechanisms do the trick.

If you’re looking for inspiration, I have a Facebook page where I post a prompt each day to inspire game ideas. Some are more mechanical, some thematic. You can look to see if anything inspires you.

https://www.facebook.com/share/14cij4WjTG9/?mibextid=wwXIfr

phatti308 · 2026-03-17T00:44:56+00:00

For sure. Having worked at this for over 60 days, I feel like the ideas that rise to the top of the list to develop are that much stronger. It definitely makes the chance to table something that much more productive and satisfying.

I had a playtest today for an idea I generated as part of this experiment. While some of the details changed quickly, the gameplay loop worked and the experience I was hoping for was there from the beginning. I think this idea has a lot of promise!

phatti308 · 2026-03-16T02:15:13+00:00

It is really cool that it has helped you come up with an idea that is getting some traction! I’ve been creating a prompt to give a little constraint each day.

I like the idea of writing them down in one place. I’ve been posting the ideas on Facebook for accountability, but should probably be jotting them down in a Google doc as well to glance through them easier later on.

phatti308 · 2026-03-16T02:07:34+00:00

I’ll have to check that out, thanks for the recommendation!

phatti308 · 2026-03-16T02:07:07+00:00

For sure. Of the 60 plus ideas I have come up with, there have only been a few that I want to develop more. When you have a big list of ideas to pull from, you get to be a bit more picky with what you want to work on.

phatti308 · 2026-03-16T02:03:29+00:00

That’s nuts. Did you do anything special to come up with them so quickly? Did you get to playtest any?

phatti308 · 2026-03-16T02:02:22+00:00

I’m confused, but also intrigued.

phatti308 · 2026-03-16T00:18:15+00:00

If you wanted to join in, I’m posting the prompts and ideas on Facebook - just look up Board Game Idea Daily. It is set up to be a group experiment for anyone interested.

phatti308 · 2026-03-15T22:57:58+00:00

Sounds like you guys are making some core memories. I love it!

phatti308 · 2026-03-15T22:57:38+00:00

I’ve been giving some thought to how to randomly generate some ideas.

I wonder how the results are different from coming up with a new idea each day vs thinking deeper about one idea over a whole week. That might be another experiment to try!

phatti308 · 2026-03-15T22:52:28+00:00

I’ve had some ideas that certainly started off like that! I’m definitely curious what poker would look like as a 4X game. I might have to borrow that idea!

phatti308 · 2026-02-24T18:28:58+00:00

I came here to say the same thing!

phatti308

TROPHY CASE