Here at Green Board Games, we know that many students are set the challenge of designing a board game as part of their coursework so we thought that we would help out and produce this Board Game Checklist that you can use in the classroom or even outside the classroom, like during the holidays. We always make sure that we carry out a game play survey before producing a new game ourselves. It’s amazing how much fun and what great feedback you get. You can also use this checklist as a family fun event, so print it out and give it a go!
- Decide on a game concept (e.g. a geography game or a game about horses etc)
- Research the subject, even if you think you know a lot about it
- Double-check anything you read on Wikkipedia
- Decide on the size of the box and board. It’s a good idea to choose the same size as a game you have at home so that you can use the box and board later on
- Decide on the game play. It could be a quiz based game, a race game, a collecting game, a visual game, a strategy game etc.
- Have a look at games at home or in charity shops if you need some inspiration.
- Construct a survey. This could include the following:
- Rate how much players enjoy it, from 0 to 10 with 10 being the best game ever
- Did they enjoy it more or less than a recently played game? (ask them the name of recently played game)
- How many people played the game?
- How long did it take to play?
- What did they like most about the game?
- What did they like least about the game?
- Can the players think of any improvements?
- How much would they pay for the game if they saw it in a shop?
- Test the game play by playing the game with different age groups and ask them to fill out your survey
- Based on this feedback decide who you should be targeting the game at.
- Draw or use a computer to make a few versions of the box and board artwork. There are lots of royalty-free images on Google images
- Show the different versions to your target market to find out which they prefer. Ask people to mark them out of 10
- Cover the game you have at home with white paper
- Stick the preferred design on to your existing game at home
- Hand in your game with all your questionnaires and feedback in a folder