What is the secret to a good board game?

#GameDesign #BoardGameTheory #BoardGames
So exactly what is it about a board game that makes it 'good' to play?
In this episode, I share my 5 key findings after posing the question to the internet.
Useful information for designers and players alike!
Music: Clover by Vibe Mountain from KZbin's Music Archive

[@elink2k1]

I use these 10 criteria to rate games: 1) Theme (Does the theme help teach the game or does the game bring the theme to life?), 2) aesthetics (How well is the design executed or is it pretty?), 3) replay (Does the game give you opportunities for new experiences with each play?), 4) length (Does the game length seem appropriate, or does the game remain fun/interesting until the end?) 5) ease (Is the game easy to teach and easy to learn?) 6) tactics/strategy (Does the game provide meaningful decisions for short and long goals without being too lucky or chaotic?) 7) components (Do the components help you play the game and of good quality?) 8) score (Does the game arc and scoring provide excitement or tension to the game?) 9) Mechanic 1 (How well is the primary mechanic executed in this game?) 10) Mechanic 2 (How well is the secondary mechanic executed, or does this game have a secondary mechanic?) Each of these gets one of three scores: 0=Poor, 0.5=satisfactory, 1=good You add these up and get a score... I can then adjust up or down 1 point for my own personal bias overall. Example: Wingspan - Theme 0.5, aesthetics 1, replay 0.5, length 0.5, ease 1, Tact/strat 0.5, comp 1, score 1, Tablou/Engine Builder 0.5, Action Selection 0.5, Total=7.0 I really love birds and enjoy exploring all the cards so I may give it a more personal rating of 7.5 or even 8 with expansions.

[@GamingIndoors]

Great insight there Eric but I am not sure about having single totals at the end. Getting a 7 out of ten overall may seem like the game is worth a try but if the ease of play and theme are a 1 then it I probably would not bother even if everything else scored a 10...

[@elink2k1]

@@GamingIndoors I get where you are coming from there but I don't often hang a game on one or two aspects. Many good games have poor or nonexistent themes... abstract games. This doesn't help the rating for me but I'd still play it. Lacerta games are stupid with little rules which makes me crazy but tons of people love his games as well. (He usually has strongly themed games) Anyway, this grading system seems to really work for me and has lead me to appreciate aspects of games even though I generally disliked the game. I am more able to appreciate every game experience. Btw: keep up the great work. If there is ever anything I can do to help you can find me on the Portal Games Discord.

[@GamingIndoors]

Ok so my title is a little bit "click-baitey" -= but the info inside is gold. I went looking for the fundamental truths behind what makes a board game good and the internet delivered!

[@jurvanoerle2845]

Personally, I think explicit player elimination is sometimes a good thing, so you can go do something else. It beats implicit player elimination, when you know there's no way in hell you'll ever catch up to the leader, but the game lasts for another hour and a half. That is the worst feeling I can possibly have in a game like Terraforming Mars or Castles of Burgundy.

[@xlhooka666]

Thinking about Coup, it's really what makes it good. Removing the player elimination would totally deflate the stakes

[@marcosseven8872]

Great video. And I went down the Comme to answer also found very rich and meaningful comments. Wow. Taking notes. You got a new subscriber! All the best

[@edenvernier4042]

This was a very informative list. Through my own work I’ve come to realize the importance of meaningful choices/balance of skill and luck and I was very glad to see that reaffirmed here. On to the next vid!

[@GamingIndoors]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Nico-Cruz]

It's really interesting to see how i set out to find out what do good board games have in common and came to the same conclussions you did. Thank you for sharing and good luck with the channel! :D

[@GamingIndoors]

Glad it was helpful!

[@joefilmco]

This was great, thanks! We’re currently making our own board game-based music video and need to make our own game for it.

[@EurekaUtopia]

Nicely made points & presentation, only lacking is visualization

[@chriscushing6329]

Thank you for sharing your research and discovery about what makes a game good. I am developing a board game based from my book “The Deception of Sharmok.” I will be sure to consider your advice.

[@elizabethsmith955]

That sounds cool, how's it going

[@r34dood]

Great video, thank you so much!

[@cashsarihs]

Like videogames, a game should build on it's best mechanic, maximizing its importance.

[@delvechiocavalhieri2105]

Just saw your video at a subreddit. Good luck in your channel, just followed you waiting for new content. Great video =)

[@GamingIndoors]

Thanks, buddy! I appreciate the support. there is definitely more to come - just stay tuned :)

[@dmytrobiriukov]

Your videos are so great) ThanX) I don't understand why there are so small views...

[@Kathleenherd488]

really great video

[@NytStrykr]

can you go through some usefull tools to use when designing?

[@GamingIndoors]

I absolutely will Synopsis Man! In fact, I intend to go through the whole process of making my game - but right now I'm still some distance from that. I'm not really bothered about whether my game will actually be successful or even work and I am no expert but I do know people who have designed and published their own games (one through Mayfair games in fact) and would love to interview them about the process too. Right now I'm enjoying the process of developing it but io will share when I can!

[@martinjoseferreyra1961]

Thanks! Un saludo desde Argentina. It's just what I've been looking for

[@GamingIndoors]

Glad it helped you, Martín : Saludos desde Inglaterra!

[@martinjoseferreyra1961]

@@GamingIndoors Thanks! 😁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇦🇷

[@bwah9481]

4:17 I think Player Elimination is fine if there are no early eliminations or rounds are short.

[@sooooooooDark]

luck is undesirable in every imo i know this sounds subjective and close-minded af, but if there is luck in a game its mostly just appeal for the gambling addict type to be more exacting what u want (at least in some, but not all games) is uncertainty - and luck elements such as drawing cards or rolling dice just happen to be the go-to solution for most designers (but certainly not the only way). without uncertainty "games" become puzzles. if u take yomi out of chess its a puzzle for example (one could even argue that chess is already a full on puzzle because the possibility space is (heavily) limited at all times)

[@sethtorres5202]

I'm in the conceptualizing stage of a board game that will play like risk. Do you have any advice for me to make it a good game? I don't necessarily want to make it shorter then risk but I do want it to be faster paced. I'm okay with a play time that ranges in the hours but I want to ensure that every minute is meaningful. Also feel free to give more advice on other aspects not just this one topic for my game.

[@teamshalvel9650]

This is going to help me in my comppetion

[@GamingIndoors]

Good luck!

[@teamshalvel9650]

@@GamingIndoors thank you

[@AscribeAndDeclare]

Really good content! Music is too loud behind your talking. :)

[@GamingIndoors]

Sorry about that Mat. In later vids I have tried my best to reduce the background noise right the way down. Let me know if it improved things.

[@discojee5331]

good video

[@GamingIndoors]

Thanks Disco Jee!

[@_Cervantez]

Food Chain Magnate is a great example of a good game without any luck in gameplay. The replayability comes from the randomness in setup instead.

[@GamingIndoors]

Thanks for that Cervantez! I will defintiely go check it out - usually I really dont like games where there is no luck involved at all (yes, thta includes Chess!)

[@_Cervantez]

@@GamingIndoors It is one of my favorite games, buit it is brutal and everything you said about luckless games totally applies to FCM as well. An experienced player will crush a new one any time (Tom Vasel from the Dice Tower famously lost his first game like 750 to 30). I guess you need people roughly at your own skill level to enjoy this. It is Splotter game. This company is known for three things: their games are not pretty, their games are expensive due to very small print runs and their games have a very high and brutal level of interaction while being completely skill based. Interstingly they are also quite thematic. One of the designers once said their motto was "if not every single move could lose you the game, why include that move in the game at all?" I think that's an interesting thought for an aspiring game designer :)

[@gopinathkavi8746]

I wanted to start a game called CHALLENGE ME It is s very exercise full game

[@spetz911]

FYI: not all games are euro 😮