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Challenge: making a smol solo game, 1.1
Nov. 28th, 2023 12:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yhleeDesigning a smol solo tabletop/physical game challenge!
You decide what "smol" means here - I suggest up to 5 pages of rules (or less).
Next:
- 1.2 research, inspiration, comps.
- 1.3 design document and writing your rules.
- 1.4 rapid prototyping.
- 1.5 playtesting.
- 1.6 iterative design.
- 1.7 release! (fin)
Noodly thoughts inellenmillion's direction, NOT because I am an expert (I'm not) but as a jumping-off point for exploration/discussion. Please feel free to chime in or suggest alterations/other thoughts!
Important note: I'm posting these at fairly rapid intervals but you are welcome to go at your own pace! I know people have lives. That said, one could in principle do (say) one exercise/day for a very smol game if one had a lot of clarity. I've been posting my responses in the comments not because I'm some kind of game design master (lolnope) but as examples of my own process.
This is a suggested general order of operations but I would expect (especially in indie/hobbyist/recreational design) that one would move back and forth between steps or rearrange as desired.
(You may also note that this general framework will apply to not just smol solo games.)
What's the brief and what are the parameters?
If you're designing for yourself, great! You have much more scope to decide for yourself; but of course, constraints can be helpful.
For example, parameters might be:
- I want this game to run off a Tarot deck or specific oracle deck.
- I want the entire game to (readably, not samizdat) fit on an index card or business card.
- I have three months and $50 to put into this.
- I'd like to explore creating solo journaling games.
- I want to make a game that uses a trick-taking mechanic.
- I would like to make a game that captures the feeling of a haunted house.
and so on.
What's the desired player experience?
This is one of the most important things!
For example: "I want players to take turns playing cards in a story where they're capturing and barbecuing rampaging Space Marines, with a bidding mechanism and a sense of paranoia like Mafia." (I have no idea if this even makes sense. It's 1 a.m., but at least it's a starting point.)
Ironically, we learned this as well…in teacher education, only we called it something different (and people got graded): Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe, which advocates "backwards design."
In a teaching context, this goes like:
- I want students to have mastered writing a 5-point essay.
- How do students demonstrate to me that they've mastered this? At this point I explicitly list out how they can demonstrate achieving this goal: writing the aforementioned essay with well-formed thesis statement, intro/conclusion, supporting arguments, citations, whatever. (Look, I haven't tutored essay-writing in a couple decades.)
- How do I teach the specific skills that go into that demonstration?
When done well, this prevents you from
(a) teaching things that have nothing to do with the target pedagogical goal;
(b) and then getting frustrated/mad/disappointed because the students couldn't get from point A to point ∑.
In a game design context, then:
- What do I want the player to do and feel?
- How can I create rules/mechanics/flavor that support those actions and feelings?
There's a general principle for game design that's important here; I am particularly indebted toyeloson (bankuei) and maga (Sam Kabo Ashwell) for discussion thereof. Players do what the rules reward them for doing. ( further discussion )
Research
What other games are similar to what I'm trying to do? What do I like about their mechanics/flavor, what don't I like, what is OH HELL NO? ( Read more... )
Ideation
Blue-sky ideation to just jot down thoughts/ideas for rules!
Design document
Optional for a small game, but I find it helpful to lay out what I'm trying to do and how. An excellent (if much larger scope) free/legal example of a CRPG design document is the Planescape: Torment Vision Statement. EDIT: my janky design document for Ninefox Gambit RPG.
Write a set of rules.
Keep in mind, good rules writing is more like (I forget who said this, maybe Monte Cook?) technical writing. You're delivering instructions, hoping to be succinct and clear. (It will almost certainly not be as clear as you think you are being, just by the nature of other people having different brains.)
RAPID PROTOTYPING.
Seriously, if you do NOTHING ELSE, get to a playable prototype as quickly as possible. Do not get hung up on making it pretty. Cheap and fast is your friend. Index cards, meeples stolen from that banged-up incomplete set of Settlers of Catan or Monopoly, plastic poker chips, pennies. Do not worry about pretty graphics or design at this stage.
What you want is a reasonably complete set of rules and some willing playtesters you can get reports from or observe. ( Read more... )
Your challenge (the exercises break this down into pieces)
Design a smol solo game for a common game aid - poker deck, Tarot deck, set of six-sided dice, a paperback book (there are bookmark games!).
Specifically:
Challenge 1.1. What are your parameters and what's your desired player experience? Leave your thoughts in a comment, if you like (optional!).
If you have questions or get stuck on anything, feel free to ask for help/brainstorming/resources!
(Also, if helpful: sticky post of game design resources.)
You decide what "smol" means here - I suggest up to 5 pages of rules (or less).
Next:
- 1.2 research, inspiration, comps.
- 1.3 design document and writing your rules.
- 1.4 rapid prototyping.
- 1.5 playtesting.
- 1.6 iterative design.
- 1.7 release! (fin)
Noodly thoughts in
ellenmillion's direction, NOT because I am an expert (I'm not) but as a jumping-off point for exploration/discussion. Please feel free to chime in or suggest alterations/other thoughts!Important note: I'm posting these at fairly rapid intervals but you are welcome to go at your own pace! I know people have lives. That said, one could in principle do (say) one exercise/day for a very smol game if one had a lot of clarity. I've been posting my responses in the comments not because I'm some kind of game design master (lolnope) but as examples of my own process.
This is a suggested general order of operations but I would expect (especially in indie/hobbyist/recreational design) that one would move back and forth between steps or rearrange as desired.
(You may also note that this general framework will apply to not just smol solo games.)
What's the brief and what are the parameters?
If you're designing for yourself, great! You have much more scope to decide for yourself; but of course, constraints can be helpful.
For example, parameters might be:
- I want this game to run off a Tarot deck or specific oracle deck.
- I want the entire game to (readably, not samizdat) fit on an index card or business card.
- I have three months and $50 to put into this.
- I'd like to explore creating solo journaling games.
- I want to make a game that uses a trick-taking mechanic.
- I would like to make a game that captures the feeling of a haunted house.
and so on.
What's the desired player experience?
This is one of the most important things!
For example: "I want players to take turns playing cards in a story where they're capturing and barbecuing rampaging Space Marines, with a bidding mechanism and a sense of paranoia like Mafia." (I have no idea if this even makes sense. It's 1 a.m., but at least it's a starting point.)
Ironically, we learned this as well…in teacher education, only we called it something different (and people got graded): Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe, which advocates "backwards design."
In a teaching context, this goes like:
- I want students to have mastered writing a 5-point essay.
- How do students demonstrate to me that they've mastered this? At this point I explicitly list out how they can demonstrate achieving this goal: writing the aforementioned essay with well-formed thesis statement, intro/conclusion, supporting arguments, citations, whatever. (Look, I haven't tutored essay-writing in a couple decades.)
- How do I teach the specific skills that go into that demonstration?
When done well, this prevents you from
(a) teaching things that have nothing to do with the target pedagogical goal;
(b) and then getting frustrated/mad/disappointed because the students couldn't get from point A to point ∑.
In a game design context, then:
- What do I want the player to do and feel?
- How can I create rules/mechanics/flavor that support those actions and feelings?
There's a general principle for game design that's important here; I am particularly indebted to
yeloson (bankuei) and maga (Sam Kabo Ashwell) for discussion thereof. Players do what the rules reward them for doing. ( further discussion )Research
What other games are similar to what I'm trying to do? What do I like about their mechanics/flavor, what don't I like, what is OH HELL NO? ( Read more... )
Ideation
Blue-sky ideation to just jot down thoughts/ideas for rules!
Design document
Optional for a small game, but I find it helpful to lay out what I'm trying to do and how. An excellent (if much larger scope) free/legal example of a CRPG design document is the Planescape: Torment Vision Statement. EDIT: my janky design document for Ninefox Gambit RPG.
Write a set of rules.
Keep in mind, good rules writing is more like (I forget who said this, maybe Monte Cook?) technical writing. You're delivering instructions, hoping to be succinct and clear. (It will almost certainly not be as clear as you think you are being, just by the nature of other people having different brains.)
RAPID PROTOTYPING.
Seriously, if you do NOTHING ELSE, get to a playable prototype as quickly as possible. Do not get hung up on making it pretty. Cheap and fast is your friend. Index cards, meeples stolen from that banged-up incomplete set of Settlers of Catan or Monopoly, plastic poker chips, pennies. Do not worry about pretty graphics or design at this stage.
What you want is a reasonably complete set of rules and some willing playtesters you can get reports from or observe. ( Read more... )
Your challenge (the exercises break this down into pieces)
Design a smol solo game for a common game aid - poker deck, Tarot deck, set of six-sided dice, a paperback book (there are bookmark games!).
Specifically:
Challenge 1.1. What are your parameters and what's your desired player experience? Leave your thoughts in a comment, if you like (optional!).
If you have questions or get stuck on anything, feel free to ask for help/brainstorming/resources!
(Also, if helpful: sticky post of game design resources.)
