Self-centered Design

Every designer has tendencies that they should be aware of. I think of it as my own bad taste in design, but you could think of it as not considering your audience or going against certain expectations in the hobby. I frame it as bad taste because, like in other aspects of life, I am capable of enjoying something even if it is generally considered to be poor quality. 

In game design, my own bad taste primarily manifests as an enjoyment of tedium. I let a game go on too long. I don't have very interesting choices early on in my designs. Dramatic moments are something I stumble into if I am lucky. My interest is usually in shaping the rhythm of the game and in making the tedious parts the least tedious they can be. But sometimes often that is at the expense of the things that gamers want in games, the things that make games 'good'. I'll die on the hill that balance is a late stage design consideration, but I am trying to be better about incorporating interesting choices sooner in my design process. 

Speaking of balance, some designers rely too heavily on spreadsheets and math rather than their target audience. I put mathematical balance in the bad taste category. Few gamers will care that a game's math is perfect, but many designers are enamored with perfectly balanced spreadsheets. I occasionally will work out some of the math of a game to make sure that higher level actions are actually better than lower level ones. But otherwise my math typically consists of making sure I have enough cards for the intended player count. (Which I am notoriously bad at. Which explains my stance on math in games.) My feelings on math aside, game balance matters less than the perception of balance. Spending too much time in spreadsheets likely does more for your ego than it does for the game. (On the other hand, if it's a part of your process, go for it. As long as you know that spreadsheets cannot replace playtesting.) 

Returning to tedium, many designers seem to struggle with game length. Based on my own experience, I would say that part of the struggle is because designers enjoy their own games, sometimes to a fault. The longer a game lasts, the more opportunity to hit certain beats and develop certain strategies. Unfortunately, only someone who is as familiar with the game as the designer is going to appreciate what the long version of the game offers. Most players won't be able to see that nuance and won't appreciate the time it takes to get there. Most of the time, what the longer game adds is not worth the loss of momentum that happens as a game stretches out. 

Another familiarity problem is one I dub the "videogame dev" mentality. In videogames, development continues long after a game has launched. Games regularly transform from simple affairs in early access to sprawling, elaborate worlds. The problem for board game designers is when something similar happens during the design process. Rather than simplifying and streamlining the design over time, the design becomes more expansive, usually at the expense of the intended player experience. Sometimes this is in response to playtester feedback; often the designer is trying to keep the game from getting boring (to themself). Usually, content can be stripped out to be added in later as expansions. 

Lastly, some designers will design games that are fun for them at the expense of the players. Games that punish players or trick them into making bad decisions can make designers feel clever. These sorts of design choices are rarely fun for players, however. This tendency can show up in small ways, like red herrings that only trip up first time players. If you have options in your game that are always (as opposed to conditionally) bad, label them as such. 

Traits such as these often get listed as "new designer mistakes" but I think that miscasts the problem. I struggle in some way with most of these (not the math one), even though I know they aren't good design tools. I also see all of these creep into published games by established designers. So let's stop telling new designers these problems are due to lack of experience. These tendencies come from designers designing for themselves, as opposed to their target audience. These tendencies don't evaporate when you get published because you are still you. I am still me, with all my bad taste and laziness when it comes to the process. The trick is recognizing the tendencies in yourself so that you can address them before your game hits the shelves. 

ShippBoard Games is a board game design blog that updates most Mondays.