71 Ways to Become a Better Game Designer

Here's pretty much every tip about game design that I could think of!
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Blog post about playtesting and my playtest feedback form: boardgamedesignlab.com/playte...
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0:00 Intro
0:13
1:02 Find the Fun
1:40 Focus on the Experience
2:45 Begin with the End in Mind
3:30 Explain the Game
4:13 Less Is More
5:05 Don't Add too Many New Things
5:58 Learn from the Bad Designs
7:00 Reuse what Works
8:08 Get out of the Echo Chamber
9:10 Get Involved with a Design Community
10:09 Got to Conventions
11:10 You Have an Ugly Baby
12:21 Don't Get Upset with Publishers
13:45 Seek to Understand
14:49 Perception Is Reality
15:29 Watch Your Words
17:14 Know Your Customer Avatar
18:06 Build an Email List
19:30 Communicate Regularly
20:32 Get Better at Public Speaking
21:31 Go Pro
22:19 Give More than You Take
23:14 Play other People's Prototypes
24:00 Play Published Games
24:39 Watch Other People Playing Games
25:34 Read what Designers Say
26:54 Listen to other Designers
27:52 Listen to Gamers' Problems with Games
28:45 Never Forget an Idea
29:39 Watch Game Reviews
30:31 Design with Production Cost in Mind
31:46 Don't Overthink Production Cost
32:28 Meet People
33:13 Conventions
33:51 Learn How to Demo
34:55 Volunteer
37:02 Borrow from other Games
38:00 F.O.C.U.S.
38:58 Don't Focus
41:40 Kill Your Darlings
44:10 Niche Down
44:54 Don't Worry about Art
46:02 The Perfect Title
47:07 Price Quotes
47:56 Schedule Your Time
48:52 Design Everyday
51:06 Keep a Notebook
52:23 Fix One Thing at a Time
53:21 Make a Sell Sheet
54:27 Sell Yourself
55:27 Don't Expect Others to Care
56:39 Don't Spam Forums
57:52 Don't Consider Kickstarter Unless...
59:59 Don't Expect Free Labor
1:00:58 Don't Be Cheap
1:02:18 Fail Fast
1:03:28 Playtest
1:04:20 Playtest without Talking
1:05:44 Playtest Early and Often
1:07:11 Listen
1:08:13 Don't Listen
1:09:28 Playtest with Different Groups
1:11:25 Playtest with Strangers
1:12:08 Use a Feedback Form
1:12:52 Film Playtests
1:13:29 Playtest

[@ericblakenburg5380]

Let's appreciate that Gabe could've done 7 top 10 video's on being a better game designer, but just threw it all in one video😁 love the podcast, keep it up!

[@Sprossenzuechter]

Wow that video is a true goldmine for someone like me just starting to get into gamedesign. Thank you very much! Also, #46: "Don't worry about art" - I can relate as someone who already spent alot of time designing icons for a dungeon crawler idea, without knowing if the game has any potential other than in my head. But designing icons is fun, so it is definitely not a total waste of time :P

[@3inchhighgames]

Amazing organization to put this together - tons of great advice for people working on any kind of creative project - thank you

[@StevenCavanaugh]

I needed this video right now. I took a break from game design due to Covid shutting down game conventions, but a publisher I met back then recently asked to publish on if my games, so I decided to get back into the design world. After this video I think I'm going to attend KublaCon this weekend with the intent to help others and test their games, goodwill needs to be reestablished. Thank you, sir.

[@BoardGameDesignLab]

Awesome! I'm so glad to hear that.

[@ignatovVova]

Thanks so much! One of my most valuable realizations is that I can collaborate with fellow game designers to playtest board games, which offers me the perfect blend of benefits: - I get to enhance my skills as a designer and foster meaningful connections within the community. - It also means I don't have to keep bugging my friends, who may not share passion for board games to my extent 🤠

[@JustinNichols66]

#29 - Listen to Gamer's problems with games, especially the Games you Borrow from (#39). Definitely like that one early in design. I find it very helpful to consider the criticism of games similar to my game ideas, so I can avoid the criticisms I agree with, perhaps find solutions, and help differentiate my game. Part of my competitive analysis process to figure out how my game could stand out. Thanks for another helpful game design tip list!

[@Nathan-uu6zd]

Love the video. Thanks so much for all of these tips! The more I develop, the more I realize how important these things are!

[@sharon2674]

Learning a lot...glad your there with all that experience!

[@samanthamckinnon6402]

Love this video!! Thanks for all your helpful tips! I’d love to send you a prototype of my game when I’m done with the recipe!! :)

[@sharon2674]

Thank you...great info and clarity very timely from my vantage point ! ! Thanks for the open doors!

[@chadstilson8804]

You have the best Adages! Thank you for the Great Content

[@jefffaris2699]

Great post. This was helpful

[@kileyredhead]

What a valuable resource! Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to learn from your wisdom and your mistakes.

[@msoyfmo]

Watching and absorbing this video is most informative 4478 seconds that a boardgame developer will ever spend! Soooooo spot-on brother!!! -- In all thy getting, get wisdom! When it comes to developing a boardgame, this video is wisdom!!!

[@boredgameslab]

Appreciate the long list of insights Gabe! Also, looking forward to playing Robomon :)

[@BoardGameDesignLab]

I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I can’t wait to get RM on your table!

[@2ndai385]

I really wish I had the money or friends that are experienced or connections. Feels very hard to do a lot of these steps when I finish something and I’m still all on my own

[@ForTheSuperEarth]

I'm planning to make a wargame, miniatures included, glad I stumbled on this video, to be honest I got lost in the process of making my game, becouse I didn't know why I'm doing it in the first place besides becouse I want to. Great vid, keep it champ.

[@zachphelps-roper6114]

This was quite helpful; thank you for posting this. :-)

[@alfonsoegarcia]

thanks a lot! this was VERY helpful :)

[@DavidBgames10]

Great video. I learned a lot, understood it, and will definitely practice it... thanks."

[@axxleseventeen1622]

Really? Everyone is just going to brush past the thumbnail? Well, I think it's awesome, and it's a great video, too. Please keep them coming!

[@kamwu8557]

the concept, advices and all of it is good, but for an AV i got to say that the sound could be better, i barely hear you on 100% both my build in audio system in laptop and youtube app. The second think is the slow camera zoom in's while you speaking, they make it harder for me to focus on what you are saying. Anyway cheers, wish you luck from all my heart on growing channel, leaving a like aswell.

[@suntzu6122]

IMO if I had to pick one to put at the top of any list it would be: Elegant skill gap brings players back and makes games rewarding to get better at. Imbalances that come from high skill players vs lower skill players can be solved with good matchmaking when possible. Or the right tourney setting. This is much easier for video games for obv reasons. The idea that a game could have 'too much skill gap' is usually just wrong, IMO. As long as its elegant, easy to pick up, easy to understand, that sort of thing; its probably amazing.

[@mr.drizzay7947]

FYI you did great.. Thank you

[@Guillolife]

Great video. I feel like a lot of these should be common knowledge--especially the human interaction ones--but it's always nice to hear it from another perspective. Some of your points did make me think, "oh, that's a good one."

[@zachcarmichael699]

I appreciate the effort, but 71 items is hard to keep up with haha. Maybe get it down to 20-ish next time, or categorize them.

[@bethezebra]

Loving the video so far. Trying to place your accent - you sound like you're from my neck of the woods. May I ask where you hail from, brother?

[@gabebarrett]

Awesome. Thanks for watching! I'm from Alabama, however, I spent 8 years in Honduras, so my accent isn't as thick as it used to be, lol.

[@bethezebra]

@@gabebarrett Ah, OK, sweet. I am from and bounce around the Carolinas, though I spent some time overseas years ago - that I think softened my accent some as well. I appreciate your content. Thank you.

[@TheLimestoneCowboy]

I’m picking up on a some non-denominational church lingo and analogies 😅

[@zmollon]

Guess I need to comment here too. I know I need to watch this, but I don't know when to carve out an hour.

[@BoardGameDesignLab]

If you watch it at 2X speed it only takes ~30 minutes 😁

[@saltyman5603]

Hey, your mic is really loud. Can you turn it down a little? I can almost hear you.

[@aquarius5719]

I want to design a game to become billionaire.😂 Well billionaire inside the game. 😂😂😂

[@samanthamckinnon6402]

You said try not to make a game that is for “everyone” and to focus on an audience. BUT what if your game is comparable to a deck of cards? In that there are hundreds of games you can play in the deck for all age groups. Ranging from Go Fish, Speed, Spades, Slap Jack, Poker etc.?

[@Sbuswell]

I guess the difference is that a "deck of cards" isn't a game. But rather, like you said, something that makes lots of games. Ranging from Go Fish to Poker. If you're designing something similar to a deck of cards, what your designing isn't a game. It's a tool for people to play multiple games. Using the same deck. In this case, you could have a set of cards which come with clear rules for 5 different games. Or perhaps 10 games ranging from easy to learn, to difficult. That way you can have a teenager buy the set of cards and play one version of a game. Then, an adult play a different version of a game. Using the same set of cards. I kinda started rambling, but hope that helped.

[@samanthamckinnon6402]

@@Sbuswell please make more videos!!! The ones of just you giving advice are more enjoyable than bringing guests. You’re just more concise and have better tips.

[@samanthamckinnon6402]

I would love to hear your breakdown on how to explain your game to people in under a minute.

[@Sbuswell]

@@samanthamckinnon6402 Thanks, but I'm not Gabe, the man in the video, I'm just someone in passing looking to help out! But maybe I'll start a youtube channel 😂

[@hexcrawler]

About art… I feel like utilizing AI promptographs would be perfect for prototyping.

[@pacecory1]

#17 part 2... ahem... maybe just... don't post political nonsense in association to your game... like at all. Ever.

[@ryanb5127]

Depends what you consider political. I’ve seen the the inclusion of minority characters all to often called political.

[@peterskurr4336]

Great video. Be nice, actively seek feedback and then evaluate it. Network and playtest I can not see the link to the playtest feedback form mentioned in the video, would be interested to have a look at that.