Issue #20
WINTER 2012
Kobold Guide to Board Game Design
by Kobold Staff
Quick poll: who would like to take a course in board game design from the creators of games like Dominion, Magic: The Gathering, Betrayal at House on The Hill, Munchkin and Kill Doctor Lucky? What if the price of the course was set at, say, $20 or less?
Whoa! Lots of hands. That’s perfect, because the Kobold Guide To Board Game Design is now available in the Kobold Store. Author Mike Selinker has tapped 15 of the world’s best game designers to contribute to the book, including Richard Garfield, Steve Jackson, Dale Yu, Lisa Steenson, Michelle Nephew, Matt Forbeck and James Ernest. To add to the awesomeness, John Kovalic did the cover and interior art.
Within the pages of the Kobold Guide to Board Game Design, you’ll find a wealth of advice and insight on game conception, design, development, and presentation. You’ll learn about storyboarding, balancing, prototyping, and playtesting from the best in the business.
This is a great read for anyone who loves board games and wants a deeper understanding of the hobby. And it’s a must-have for anyone who designs board games, whether professionally or for the fun of it. Pick it up at the Kobold Store today in print+PDF or PDF-only versions!
(If you’re an RPG fan, check out the Kobold Guide To Game Design volumes 1, volume 2, and volume 3.)
7 Responses to “Kobold Guide to Board Game Design”
Good deal! And John Kovalic art to boot!
Sort of completely awesome book. I’m delighted at the sheer originality and *usefulness* of the advice here.
Hell, I should design the kobold board game. With lots and lots of meeples to start, and a survivor strategy angle…
Or a card game!
I’m looking at starting up a game design program at the library. Do you think this would be a suitable text for participants to use?
Yes, assuming that the participants are adults familiar with classic board games.
It’s written in a friendly and approachable style, but it covers some hard-nosed reality of goals, art, commerce, audience, and intent as well.
The only essay that even remotely might raise a red flag is the one about designing for gambling or risk-taking in table games, but I don’t know how you discuss game design without that topic.
Last week I interviewed for a job that would have included teaching games programming. Didn’t get it, dammit, but a lot of this book would have been useful… think I’ll send them a link anyway, even without my input it might help turn out students who understand game ‘concepts’ as well as how to code.
I’m really excited to see this one! With 7 PCs in our weekly Pathfinder game, all in our 30s, we’ve lately had more “off weeks” due to busy lives, and have turned increasingly to board games to fill in those gaps on Sunday nights, much to our delight. And, of course, as a game designer, I want to pop the back off this old pocketwatch to see what makes them tick! Awesome!