Category Archives: Game Design Theory

“Getting rid of all the bad problems and keeping all the good ones.” Bob said this while we were playing Pandora at the weekend and I liked it so much that I wrote it in my notes for the game. … Continue reading →

This applies to every kind of game as balance is worth having in every medium. Yes, balance again. Once your new game gets into the public domain the gaming masses will do their level best to break and exploit it. … Continue reading →

If you are like me, your ideas will come tumbling out of your subconscious in a random sequence. Sometimes there will be clumps of notions on a similar theme, sometimes not. However they appear they need to be captured and … Continue reading →

Murder your darlings is a phrase that was first used by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (the dapper gent illustrated here) in a 1914 lecture on writing style at Cambridge University. What it means is probably best put by saying that if … Continue reading →

As with my previous article on points systems, I’m talking here about the mechanisms used to produce balanced and “fair” tabletop miniature games. Those used in board games are slightly different. The more I thought about possible alternatives, the more … Continue reading →

There he goes again with the contentious statements. Well, not so much, as you’ll see. Here I am talking about design theory, and that differs a little from practice. The points systems I’m talking about here are those used in … Continue reading →

All home in one piece, and still catching up with the gaming goodness and the work I missed while I was away. Lots going on, though as usual I can’t tell you about much of it yet. I think I … Continue reading →