It has only come to light recently in my discussions with other developers, as well as tutors at my University, that when I say I playtested Food Time Battle in Space for six months, or that I’ve been playtesting Space Game for three months now, that I’m just plain wrong.
If we look back at the development of FTBS, it took me roughly about a month to work out all the kinks, and make sure that the game is playable and enjoyable. Due to the game being so tightly designed yet very asymmetric (I only had 12 cards to work with for each player to create and balance that asymmetry) it then took me five months to balance the game. To break that down more simply, development on FTBS was split into:
This blog post is going to briefly cover the key difference between the two, as well as discuss what your aims should likely be whilst in these two different phases of development. I have been selling games for four years now and I have never made any money. I’ve generated income to pay for manufacturing, distribution, conventions and marketing material. I have even generated enough income to support five amazing and talented freelancers at various points in time over the last four years of my board game development journey. Still, my board game development company has yet to turn a profit.
Now I’m not saying that you can’t make money from board games, or even that I can’t make money from board games, I’m sure that I will in the next couple of years just due to compounding effects. However, the point is that this is coming from the perspective of someone who has been working flat out full time for the last four years, developing three games and growing a business from the ground up, and hasn’t been rewarded monetarily for their efforts. Here’s 5 reasons why you should definitely make board games:
Input randomness vs output randomness. What is it? Why is it important? Which one do you pick? This blog post will answer these three questions as briefly as possible using my game development knowledge.
What is it? Input randomness and output randomness both describe the flow of randomness with a particular mechanic.
|
AuthorHello, my name is Niall Crabtree, and this is my comprehensive blog showcasing all of my game development Archives
June 2022
Mailing ListReceive an email every two weeks with all the articles I produce so you never miss one!
|