Kobold Guide To Board Game Design Download
See a Problem?
Thanks for telling us about the problem.
Friend Reviews
Reader Q&A
Be the first to ask a question about The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design
Community Reviews
You are an aspiring board game designer. You dream of creating a great boardgame to rival Catan, Scrabble or Codenames- games that have fervent fans and sell masses of copies.
Many have failed before you, plunging to their financial deaths from the sheer cliffs of bad game mechanics, lost in the tempestuous seas of mediocre design, or devoured by the fearsome Dra
Welcome, brave reader, to your own intrepid boardgame design adventure-in-a-book-review: The Perilous Path to Publishing Your Own Game!You are an aspiring board game designer. You dream of creating a great boardgame to rival Catan, Scrabble or Codenames- games that have fervent fans and sell masses of copies.
Many have failed before you, plunging to their financial deaths from the sheer cliffs of bad game mechanics, lost in the tempestuous seas of mediocre design, or devoured by the fearsome Dragon of Poor Sales.
As you progress through your quest you will need to roll a die to determine your actions on each page, using the number you roll to select the outcome of each scenario. Add +1 to your die roll for each chapter of the The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design that you have read.
Page One:
You are sitting at your desk one afternoon when inspiration strikes - you have an idea for a guaranteed million-seller boardgame! Roll a die for a perception test and take the relevant action:
1: You are too focused on your great idea to take any notice of your surroundings. Using the tools at hand you design and self-publish your unique boardgame Airport Bomber, complete with maps of real life airports. Sadly your masterpiece catches the eye of Homeland Security! You spend the next fifteen years hiding in a mountain cabin playing solitaire.
2-4 You send draft copies of your re-design of a classic game - working title 'Monopoly: Soviet Moscow' - to every game publisher in the United States. Months tick by, and you hear nothing. You send another copy. And another. And another. You visit each company and hand deliver another copy. Wizards of the Coast take out a restraining order against you.
5-6: You have an interesting game idea, but before you even draft it up you notice the edge of a book poking out from underneath your desk. On closer inspection you discover it is The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design and you start reading. Advance to page 2!
Page Two:
Sitting in the late afternoon sun at your desk you read the first chapter of The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design and your raw inspiration begins to harden into an exciting new idea. You are tempted to start designing a new game immediately and must roll a die for a willpower check, choosing from the options below.
1: You cast the book aside and redesign Risk into a multi-player farming simulator where the nations of the world battle for supremacy in the hyper-competitive raw carrot market! You self publish the game and are soon wallpapering your house with cease and desist letters from Hasbro.
2-4: Remembering some of what you read you design a new game of astonishing complexity, based on nineteenth century New Zealand politics. The rule book is seventy pages long, but you are sure that I Know Why the Caged Kiwi Sings will be a massive hit. You release it to the market and the game soon finds a hard-core fanbase of two people - your parents.
5-6: Taking the lessons of the first chapters to heart, you resolve to read on and learn as much as you can. Advance to page three.
Page Three:
You read on into the evening, making notes and marking pages for future reference. You reach the end of the book and must decide on your next course of action. Roll a die for a wisdom check.
1: You realise that your idea for a game based on Moby Dick (with airships) isn't ready for prime time. You resolve to continue prototyping and playtesting your game until it is good enough to be published.
2-4 You thoroughly playtest, edit and re-design a game set in a futuristic 25th century Ohio, getting great feedback from everyone who plays it. You produce a great prototype and know that it's ready for submission. You send Midwest Mania to two publishers who specialise in games like yours and one responds positively. You're on your way to being a paid game designer!
5-6: Using the wisdom you've gained from reading The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design you design a ground-breaking new game that combines elements of Risk, Monopoly and the life cycle of the Puffer fish. You outsell every other game on the market and retire to a reproduction Scottish castle on your own personal island.
The End.
Postscript: If you have any aspirations towards game design, read this book. It will save you a world of pain and make your games far, far better.
...more 
Though it doesn't provide any in-depth of game designing methods or materials or tools or anything in-depth at all, the book contains a very general view on game designing as a whole: the designer's feelings, the goal of a designer This is a highly-recommended starter book for people with no background in designing games but have already play an amount of games. What I like about this one is that the book sets a clear line among being a game player, being a game critic and being a game designer.
Though it doesn't provide any in-depth of game designing methods or materials or tools or anything in-depth at all, the book contains a very general view on game designing as a whole: the designer's feelings, the goal of a designer, what a game should be under each person's perspective and some small but helpful tips for reviewing your games.
Will recommend for any game-design starters so that they grab some general idea of the work in the field. ...more
"Now ask yourself, why do I like the games I like? And what kind of emotions do I want to create in my players? Forget about starting with your favorite game mechanic, or your favorite theme. Start with a concise expression of how you want your players to feel. And 'I want them to have fun' doesn't cut it. There are different kinds of fun.
There is nothing compelling about game mechanics. There is something compelling about games. Games engage play 1) ["The Game is Not the Rules," by James Ernest]
"Now ask yourself, why do I like the games I like? And what kind of emotions do I want to create in my players? Forget about starting with your favorite game mechanic, or your favorite theme. Start with a concise expression of how you want your players to feel. And 'I want them to have fun' doesn't cut it. There are different kinds of fun.
There is nothing compelling about game mechanics. There is something compelling about games. Games engage players on a gut level that they are barely aware of. As a designer, you must be aware of the real reasons that people will want to play your games, even if they will never notice it themselves."
2) ["Design Intuitively," by Rob Daviau]
"Rules shouldn't explain a game; they should only confirm what the rest of the game tells you.
That is, if your game makes intuitive sense from the moment players crack open the box, then you've done far more work toward people learning the game than you think.
Because tabletop games, unlike videogames, require every player to understand the entire game system to play. You need to understand not only the components, the goal, the rules, and the flow of play, but also how to assemble all these into a comprehensive strategy that will lead you to victory.
We've all played games that make no sense at all, where every rule fights another and the pieces seem like an afterthought. Don't design one of those. Instead, design games that need the rulebook as little as possible.
If you are using the rulebook to fix an unintuitive game, you are making it very hard on your players to enjoy what you designed."
3) ["Strategy is Luck," by James Ernest]
"My actual thesis here is that 'strategy' and 'skill' are different, and the main difference between them is that strategy has a luck component, while 'skill' doesn't. Understanding the roles of luck, strategy, and skill will help you design better games.
Here are the terms.
Luck: In games, 'luck' is not necessarily 'good luck' or 'bad luck.' It's just something beyond your control. It's a fork in the road, a random choice that might help you or hurt you. It might be a die roll, a card flip, or the actions of other players.
Strategy: 'Strategy' is the act of making plans and decisions during the game, given limited information.
Skill: 'Skill' is an aptitude for the game that you bring from the outside. Specifically, skill allows you to know the correct choice in a given situation."
4) [ibid.]
"'Creativity,' as [Bobby] Fischer suggests, is what makes games fun to play. Learning perfect strategy does not make a game more fun; it just makes it more likely that you will win."
5) ["Let's Make It Interesting: Designing Gambling Games," by James Ernest]
"'Killer Bunnies' is a story, not a contest. The point is to play the game, not to win it. The cards are funny. The interactions are funny. People are funny. Even the suspenseful counting-off of the losing carrots is funny. If players had to work at this game, they would not have time to enjoy it.
Believe it or not, most people seek out games as entertainment, not as a challenge. They play to escape, not to engage. They want to hang out with their friends, not to dominate them. And thinking too hard will wreck that groove.
Yes, I know it's hard to swallow, but it really doesn't matter who wins.
Obviously, if you ask a gambler 'Do you want to win?' he will say yes. But if you watch him, you will see that it really doesn't make much difference. He plays until he runs out of money, or out of time. If losing actually mattered, he would do something else."
6) ["Amazing Errors in Prototyping," by Steve Jackson]
"The moral of the story -- All of this boils down to:
* A working prototype must include everything it actually takes to play the game.
* A working prototype must not include anything you have not tested thoroughly.
* A working prototype should be about gameplay. Don't try to dictate the art or the marketing!
Above all, and summarizing everything else: A working prototype must be playable, legible, and user-friendly."
While reading this book, I frequently found myself looking around the room, asking, "Geez, where'd I'd leav
A great collection of essays on the art and craftsmanship of board game design. If this is something you want to take on as an amateur, you need to read this. It's packed full of relevant and useful advice. Even if you've already heard everything these industry pros have to tell you, it's worth reviewing. Each of the authors (save one*) writes with passion and expertise about their subject.While reading this book, I frequently found myself looking around the room, asking, "Geez, where'd I'd leave a pen?" so I could highlight or underline something. Usually I didn't find it; I suppose that means I'll just need to review its contents as I continue through my own game design and development process.
* Except Steve Jackson. His essay is caustic, mean spirited, and actively discourages me from buying stuff with his name in the future.
...more
Some things were good in that respect though. I liked most the chapter "stealing the fun" by Dave Howell since it actually provided useful insight to guide mechanism design.
Boardgame design is a long and windy process which definitely needs some guidelines like this book provides. But what I personally am into learning more about is mechanism design and there I was a bit let down content wise.Some things were good in that respect though. I liked most the chapter "stealing the fun" by Dave Howell since it actually provided useful insight to guide mechanism design.
...more
Love the writing style and the humour, too.
Bonus: a lot of useful references inside.
The essays were entertaining, for the most part. Some authors were a little drier than others, but many struck right the humorous tone without being too comedic. You can tell these designers are familiar with writing well.
The most insightful essays, from my perspective, were the ones that focused on actual mechanics and game desig
I have no intention of designing my own board games. I picked up this book from my library for entertainment reasons and gain some insight into how people design games.The essays were entertaining, for the most part. Some authors were a little drier than others, but many struck right the humorous tone without being too comedic. You can tell these designers are familiar with writing well.
The most insightful essays, from my perspective, were the ones that focused on actual mechanics and game design. Unfortunately, many of the other essays were focused on other practical manners that an actual game designer would be interested in: creating prototypes, properly playtesting a game, working through development with a publisher, etc. Those topics fell flat for me since I was only interested in the game design items. And since less than half of the 20 essays dealt directly with game play design, I was personally disappointed. If you plan to develop and sell your game to a publisher, then this practical advice will likely serve you very well.
I was not familiar with many of the game designers, but I'm only just beginning to learn more names beyond heavy hitters like Richard Garfield, Alan Moon, Reiner Knizia, and Uwe Rosenberg. So the designers included in this book helped me expand that knowledge.
...more
I read the White Box essays last year, and I think this book was good in a similar way. It has a lot to teach the budding game designer about the board game industry.
Two dimensions I want to highlight in contrast to the Whi
In this short read from game designers and publishers, you will recognize many names. It didn't occur to me that Seattle is a tiny Mecca for board games. Wizards of the Coast is here. Most of the authors featured in this book seem to be from around here. We have a great scene.I read the White Box essays last year, and I think this book was good in a similar way. It has a lot to teach the budding game designer about the board game industry.
Two dimensions I want to highlight in contrast to the White Box are the essays on actually designing mechanical aspects of a game. I definitely felt like the White Box leaves a hole in that dimension. And second, maybe my memory is short, but I felt like this book have a much better publisher's point of view in its final essays. The function of the development process and the editor were very revealing.
I think they're both good books, though. This one feels a little more colloquial and friendly, perhaps. But if you're interested in designing your own games and publishing them one day, I would read both (also, A Theory of Fun for Game Design).
I am left wondering how you get their jobs... Editing games seems to be a bit different gig than playing, testing, designing, or even publishing...
...more
Some essayists are better than others but there's at least a nugget I got out of every one of the essays. Highly recommend to an
This is a really great read and a book I might just have to buy (got it from the library). It's a collection of essays on all the various stages of creating a board game. I would have liked to get more in-depth about the creation. For example, how exactly do you go about creating "balance" in a game? Is it really just hit and miss that gets smoothed out in playtesting?Some essayists are better than others but there's at least a nugget I got out of every one of the essays. Highly recommend to anyone who has considered creating a board game. This book will either encourage you or discourage you, but either way, you will learn a lot.
...more 
The expert advice articles can only be helpful if you're actually in the process of building a game and have played many games (many Magic references went above my head). An interesting world that I hadn't known much about before now.
The essays are as brief as the book is slim — this is an approachable starting point.
However, it does lack elements like a references section that might have made this a more valuable selection of essays (admittedly a bit hit or miss).
One really critical comment, the print in this book was way, way too small. If I had seen the book in a store before I bought it, I wouldn't have bought it based on the size of the text.
I liked the range of topics covered and the frankness of the authors. I plan to come back to this book again and again over time as an aspiring game developer.
For me personally, the Concepting and Design chapters were mainly just a reinforcement of what I already knew from listening to a lot of game design and review podcasts,
There's a lot of good stuff in this book if you are an aspiring board game designer. Parts 1 and 2, Concepting and Design, are especially good and applicable in all situations. Parts 3 and 4, Development and Presentation are important as well, but a lot of it is only applicable if you plan on licensing your design to a publisher.For me personally, the Concepting and Design chapters were mainly just a reinforcement of what I already knew from listening to a lot of game design and review podcasts, and playing a lot of games. It was still helpful to read, and there were a few new concepts. A lot of it reminded me about something I once read about art: great artists can break the rules and get away with it, but only because they already know the rules, and know why they are breaking them. These two chapters collectively explain many of the rules of game design. A game can break some of them and still be good, but a designer should be aware of when they're breaking them and be able to justify why.
The second half of the book started to get into new territory for me. I knew a bit about development going into it, but it went into more detail and was overall quite useful. The one exception was the article on playtesting which felt like it belonged in a completely different book. While its interesting to know what a company like Hasbro does in playtesting, and there's value in knowing that there's no way you can afford to do that, discussions that begin with the line "you'll need to budget between $5000 to $50,000 to go this route" pretty much told me I wasn't going to be going that route without having to read anything more about it.
I don't want to rant about it too much. I do appreciate greatly the use of actual numbers in the article. Still, I felt it was out of place in a book that seems primarily aimed at aspiring board game designers. The article felt like it should have been in a book titled "So, You're A Hasbro Executive Now."
The first part of the final chapter was possibly colored by my impression of the article on playtesting. The article on what not to do with prototypes came off sounding like "how dare these people that have no experience in the industry fail to understand the things we do every day." Hopefully now they will if they read the article, but still.
Things got back on track with the next article which also discussed prototyping. The article after that discussed pitching your game, and was nearly all completely new to me. It alone is probably worth the price of the book if you are trying to sell your game to a publisher. Then again, its honest discussion of the odds may just crush your spirit, so you may want to put off reading it until your game is already done. It's also an article that might not be as useful to as many aspiring designers as it used to be given the existence of Kickstarter.
The final article is one of the best in the book and in many ways is a summary of everything else that comes before it. While it is focused on the traditional "this is what happens when you sell your game to a publisher" model, it was still a great read, and most of it will be useful to all aspiring designers.
The biggest lack in the book was any discussion of self-publishing. While it was written before Kickstarter was a major player, self-publishing existed before that, and some of the authors are in fact self publishers, so some discussion of that area would have been appreciated.
It's still a recommended read for anyone thinking about designing a board game.
...more
I love this book for what it is, a small collection of essays regarding board game design. The essayists are a collection of famous designers, producers and names in the board game industry. The books is broken up into 4 sections: Concepting, Design, Development and Presentation; with each section having about 5 essays each. The information is practical, useful and insightful.
For anyone with the slightest interest in board game design, I'd recommend picking this book up. It is small (about 130 pages) and a quick read, but with enough different viewpoints and voices to keep all the topics they cover interesting.
...more
As a sidenote, the graphic design of the book was really... 90s. It does give it a DIY-friendly feel, but I think it could have been much more attractive. Thanks to my sister for this fun gift!
...more
Kobold Guide to Board Game Design Review on Popzara
...more
News & Interviews
Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.
Kobold Guide To Board Game Design Download
Source: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/12612706
Posted by: sanchezmotigh.blogspot.com
0 Response to "Kobold Guide To Board Game Design Download"
Post a Comment