§ 1.3 - Moves are an end unto themselves.
As players pursue the activities you told them about in your pitch, it’s important to let them do those activities! Moves should engage with the activities, not stand between the player and the activities.
Guidelines for Strategy Game Design
Guidelines for Strategy Game Design is a book written by D. Brad Talton Jr, designer of BattleCON, Millennium Blades, Pixel Tactics, Dead by Daylight™: The Board Game, Exceed, and many more.
Each week, a new article is posted containing additional game design advice. Once this blog is complete, a physical edition will be available.
§ 1.2 - Activities are all relevant.
Most games consist of several different activities. However, all of those activities should thread through the game’s central mechanics and engage the game’s key skills.
§ 1.1 - Activities are clearly defined.
What will you be doing in this game? A good game lets you know right up front what activities are going to occupy your time while you sit at the table.
§ 1.0 - Play delivers on the Pitch.
A game is successful if it delivers on the promise that convinced players to sit down and give it a try.
Appendix - Design Diagnostic Checklist
In this post, you will find a diagnostic checklist which you can print and use to evaluate your own games, using the system described in this blog. Happy designing!
Introduction - On guidelines, and the use of these tools
This is intended to be a manual you can use, on-the-go, as a tool to aid in your design. It attempts to be focused—we won’t go into press techniques, guidelines for working with contractors, tools for prototyping, or anything like that. There are a lot of great resources for these things, but we’re only talking about design.