Games GDD

Games GDD

I read an article called 'Design Considerations' by Greg Aleknevicus, here's a link to the article: http://www.thegamesjournal.com/articles/DesignConsiderations.shtml. He gives us tips on improving the UI and rules for writing for board games. A good game doesn't need good components but it doesn't do any harm to have them. The list of components Greg said are good to be used are:

Make tiles smaller than the spaces they're placed upon: If your game has pieces beside each other, it's better if their smaller so if you move a piece it won't disturb the rest  of the pieces.

Use highly contrasting/distinguishable colours for player pieces: It's a good idea for your game to include colour so it is easy for the players to distinguish between the pieces easily, but it is wise to not choose colours that look a bit a like for example, red and orange.

Use shape as well as colour to distinguish pieces: It is a good idea to have shapes in your game because colours might not help everyone due to some people being colourblind. If each piece had a different design on it , that would make it much more easier for the player to tell each piece apart.

Use different components for different functions: If their are different functions of components it makes it easier for the player to separate them. For example, the game 'Monopoly', the money is different to the property cards and it's easy to tell them apart, here's a link to a site which explains the different type of rules in Monopoly: https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/leisure/brain-games/monopoly1.htm.

Use readable fonts: If the fonts are to hard to read, it will cause the player to give up after a while trying to guess what they say. Here's a link to a website that tells you fonts to avoid:https://www.fastcompany.com/1665318/the-8-worst-fonts-in-the-world.

Some other tips we are told are:

 The box should have a very good design on it so it catches the audiences eye so it gives them more of a chance to buy it. If you are using cards make sure they are easily legible and make the numbers big on them. One of the most important rules are to make the rules clear and understandable and not to make them to complex so people avoid getting confused.

An image of different pieces on a board game.

Image source:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ludo_Pieces.JPG

I really enjoyed this article a lot and would advise people to read it to get a better understanding of design considerations.