Today Jaya writes his first ever functional review – an often overlooked gateway title ‘Jamaica’: One of the first tabletop games he ever purchased, and still one he regularly takes out with new friends.
Category: Game design
Why Boggle is better than Scrabble
In today’s article Jaya Baldwin compares two different classic word games and, when looked through the lens of modern design, finds one more dated than the other
What game designers should care about
So much of the conversation about a game’s design bounces from the very broad to the very specific without stopping to consider what really matters: the human emotion game dynamics give rise to. But if designers can spend more time at this level they can make more innovative games.
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Flashpoint: Fire Rescue: A functional review: Co-op arcs, puzzles vs non-puzzles and your pleasure at risk
In my second adventure into forging designer-focused reviews, I start my look at the well-loved co-op Flashpoint: Fire Rescue and go for the world record number of colons in a blog post title.
Century: Golem Edition: A functional review experiment
In my first foray into trying to create a design orientated “functional” boardgame review, I look at a game I have distinctly mixed feelings about: Century: Golem Edition
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Is there room for a new kind of boardgame review?
There’s something missing from the boardgame review landscape. This is what I think it might be – and what I am going to experiment with to fill it.
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Confessions of a print and play virgin – Part II
Last week, I posted about why making print and plays is a great thing for designers to do. This week, I navigate my first two creations and see what I can learn from the whole process.
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Confessions of a print and play virgin – Part I
[Quietly] I’ve never made a print and play (PnP) game before. Is that ok? Well… maybe I’ve been missing out. There are lots of reasons to create a good PnP game, even if you don’t think of yourself as a ‘crafty’ person. Read part I? You can read Part II here.
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What can a negative review tell us about the lure of objectivity?
Some people hate Ticket to Ride; people who do not appreciate its brilliance. I hate the United Kingdom expansion as much as they hate the basic game. But unlike them, I’M ACTUALLY RIGHT… right?
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Great Design Decisions: Dominion’s useless victory point cards
This is the first post in an occasional series examining design choices that were critical factors in the overall success of a game’s design. In this entry, I go right in with one of the greats and look at Dominion’s powerful victory point (VP) card mechanic.
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