A'n'SR -entertainments News

5 Great Feelings a Game Designer Can Have

3/12/2014

So, we (A'n'SR -entertainments) like to play games and make games. Along the way, there are some pretty cool experiences you can have in the process of making your masterpiece. Below are a list of the top 5 feelings (in no particular order) you get during the game-making process.

Getting your near-finished prototype of your game.
After having paper cut-outs of cards, markered-up tiles, random cubes for resources, and some notes on the back of various papers in the house, little compares to seeing it all come together in a near-final version. The one with the art you asked for, has the right components, and even has a box of some kind to keep it in. Man what a site to behold this in your hands. Ours comes from TheGameCrafter.com, and our whole family gets excited when we see a package from them in the mail.
Your first sale.
The first game we made and sold was an on-line PDF role-playing game. We wanted to give that first person a copy of every game we did for life, we were so thrilled. The fact that someone wanted to play our game outside of us "selling" them on the idea... wow. Nothing like that first sale.
"I want to play this again".
What words are sweeter to someone who likes to make games than an unabashed, vocal desire to play the game one more time. We recently had this experience when we broke out our game in front of a bunch of 4th graders. We only had time to play about 2 rounds of the game, and almost all of them said "I want to play more. Can we play this later on? This is so cool!" Hearing those words soothes every worry you had about the game in playtest, every non-positive comment you heard from a reviewer, and every comment a troll ever made.
The moment when it clicks.
At some point in making the game, you start seeing the flaws, the things that need to be fixed, the parts that you hate. Then, something happens, and you find the solution to all that ales the game. Maybe it is more cards, less actions in a turn, more resources, a twist on that old die-rolling mechanic. Whatever it is, it makes the game click, and you want to foist your new-found revelation onto anyone that is willing to play it.
Seeing someone else play your game months from now.
Once, at a convention, a game designer told this story that he was at an airport and he saw this group of kids playing one of his games on the airport floor to pass the time. It was one of his worst games from years ago, and he even asked them about it. He never told them he invented it, or that they were playing it all wrong (and better than he designed), or anything. He just enjoyed/watched. He said it was awesome to see them enjoy his game, even years after he made it. In a way it is Beowulf-like immortality, and, as that game designer put it "It was awesome and humbling".

Here's hoping all of us who make games get to experience all of these at one point or another.

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