“Prototypes are built so that designers can think about their solutions in a different way (tangible product rather than abstract ideas), as well as to fail quickly and cheaply, so that less time and money is invested in an idea that turns out to be a bad one.” (https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/stage-4-in-the-design-thinking-process-prototype )
Get it on the table quickly. Don’t take it from me – listen to any podcast on game design or go to any seminar at a convention and you’ll hear this over and over. Test your idea quickly to see if it’s any good.
Here’s an article that that talks about it – get it on the table quickly: (http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/gaming/a11376/stop-reading-this-and-go-build-your-own-board-game-17314604/ ) (and check out the game here – http://www.collapsecards.com/ )
To be able to do this without fear (and without real risk) it needs to be inexpensive – Cheap!
You are going to work on several prototypes – the goal is to evaluate an idea quickly and make sure it fits the game experience you want for your players. If it’s a card game you will go through lots of iterations and lots of cards. Keep it simple to make sure you can do it quickly and cheap so you don’t go broke testing a bad idea.
Your first (and second and third) ideas might not be that good. So you need to be able to toss them out (or save them for the next game) and keep the mechanics and ideas that work without breaking the bank.
For cards start with this video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0t6PBypahI from James Ernest of Cheapass Games. I originally bought blank cards off amazon and I thought 500 would last me a few games – nope. I went through 200 in the first prototype of Fight Card! I used the blank cards and markers to create the initial idea of the cards just writing down the effect I wanted the card to have. The picture here is the prototype of Fight Card! – glass beads (from the dollar store) for counting life and markers to create new or rapidly edit cards as we go.
If you need physical components then a 3d printer is a great option to look into – if you don’t have access to one try these guys – https://www.3dsystems.com/ or look to your local library to see if they have one. If you have one and like it – mention it in the comments below and if you’ve used an online print service do the same so people know what’s out there and what’s good.
Make changes and get it back on the table …quickly. Rapid is the idea – each time you take out the crap or add in the greatness play it again but do it as quickly as possible. When we were (and still are) developing Fight Card! we had limited time to play-test so we ended up taking longer than we wanted to get it released.
Once you find yourself playing it through and not changing it then you might be close to a product – on to the next steps!
This is the first step in getting to the end product; but not the only one – the message we heard repeatedly at Gencon – release the thing! Get it published.
Tell us what you’re working on – this is the great spot to do so ….. no one’s looking here anyway – go for it – let us know and tell us how you’re prototyping it and what you are using to do this quickly and cheaply!
PJ
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