When making privacy screens, I cut the bottom of the "wings" at a slight angle so that the screen leans forward, preventing it from flopping when you breathe on it too hard. The cut should start at the fold and go in a straight line to about an inch up from the corner, depending on how long your wings are. Great bunch of tips-you've inspired me to make a dollar store run!
Thanks for the tip, Peter! Yeah privacy screens can be a bit precarious and if they fall over, they completely fail at doing their one job of preventing others from seeing what’s behind them 😆
Tip. Instead of making custom dice. Make a table with dice numbers and what it should have for that number. Imagine number two has 2 victory icins and 1 damage. Instead of covering dice and draw on them a simple cue card will do. Check a game called "Space Aces TNG The New Guideline. It is a solo scifi RPG that used a D6 and does wonders with it. Countless adventures by just rolling D6 with a very small rulebook.
Ah that’s interesting! I’d be curious if that takes a bit of the excitement away from the dice roll if you have to reference a chart to see what the number represents? But yes that is another quick way to have custom results for a die, thanks for sharing!
That blank die is so fantastic. I made custom dice for a prototype and bought multiple sets of blank rainbow dice on Amazon as well oil-based sharpies to draw the symbols on. So much work, time, and unnecessary money!
There's been a bunch of Lego board games as well which have D6's where you can put different tiles on :) I've been using those and many other random lego bits for about everything i needed for my first try at board games, except for the board itself ;)
Instead of repurposing game boards, i use cardboard (I believe it's called eggshell cardboard), cut it in as many folds are needed for the prototype and tape them from the backside creating some sort of hinges
Nice! That's a great way to do it. You could also try not cutting all the way through and leaving it slightly attached so you don't need the tape. Thanks for watching and for the comment!
Tip. Use Powerpoint. Make a template with rectangles that allow you to have centimeters and inches, so you can draw on top. At first it will be trial and error to get the grid with proper size but later it will he useful. I am designing a game where pieces fit inside 2x2 cm squares. So I xan make a quick prototype, ad colors and so and have neat components. Print on paper, glue with those bars of glue to cardboard and you gave a nicely made prototype that is functional and allows color for specific purposes. Color is a way to code information in the components and minimize number of components.
I'm a big fan of using sticker sheets and printing out component designed using the Google Suite tools. It give is a clean consistency as well as ensures all text is readable regardless of the quality of your hand writing.
I just started to learn Nandeck, I must say that it really saves time on design iteration of card games! Also, it's much prettier than what my clumsy hands can muster... The downside is that it's a more expensive if you can't print on your own, and changing a single card is much slower. On the flipside, changing a lot of cards is much faster, so... 😁
I have heard Nandeck is a bit tough to figure out at first but can be really powerful once you figure it out. I'm glad it has helped speed up your iterations. I'm not sure I have the patience to learn it but if I ever do a game with a large deck I will consider it!
I recently started prototyping my first game. All of my design was done digitally, mainly in Tabletop Simulator. However, the feeling I got when I held the first set of prototype cards in my hand was difficult to describe. It made me so excited I was bouncing around like a hyperactive 5 year old. I think I scared my wife a little.
There is definitely something special about making something with your hands! Almost feels more real? Congrats and I’m happy you got to feel that joy, keep it going 💪
@@PamWallsGameDesign thank you. I watched a few of your videos while I worked this morning. I really appreciate the simple way you explain things. Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise.
Great video, Pam! If interested, I’d LOVE to mail you some of my invented product, for which my RU-vid channel focuses on (TI’TAINS; pronounced: TIE’tains; US Patent Pending). Would love to share/discuss more about TI’TAINS with you! -Howie
Your suggestion to buy cheap games from the thrift store shouldn't be missed! You can often find a game with the exact type of components you need, and you'll get a lot more too for 2 bucks or less. Obviously it depends on the game and the thrift store you're at, but I've seen big games no one wants going for 50 cents. For prototypers, that's a great deal! Another suggestion I've heard is that if you want a deck of cards that you can actually easily shuffle, buy some cheap card sleeves and an old deck of cards. Then draw your cards on pieces of paper and slide them into the card sleeves in front of the old card deck. Not only does it feel like high quality cards, but you can easily pull out the paper, and change it, and slide it back in.
Yes agreed about finding great deals at thrift stores! And I haven’t jumped on the card sleeve train just because I’m too lazy to put cards in and out of sleeves 😂 But I know it makes shuffling way easier and you can’t see through the back of the card. Maybe I’ll add card sleeves to my secret santa wish list lol
@@PamWallsGameDesign It's definitely worth it. It doesn't take as much effort as you think, and the time savings are that you don't need to be precise with your new "cards" since it will already have the "backbone" of the playing card you originally put in the sleeve.
Pam, great tips. When a publisher askes for a prototype, do you send them something of this quality, or do you make something more professional for them to consider?
Great question, I will make a fresh, printed prototype for them, using place holder clipart. Still not buying art or spending too many hours on it, but yes will make a more professional, printed version for them. I made a couple videos about how I use Google Draw to make printed prototypes.
@@PamWallsGameDesign thanks for the thoughts. I assumed that was the case. I'm still working through your videos in the order you posted them and am looking forward to the rest of your prototyping vidoes. Similar question for play testing - how "good" is good enough?
For playtesting: as long as it communicates how to play the game, it is good enough. This could mean hand written cards on index cards and using tokens and bits from other games while you test it. If you are getting good feedback, you can then upgrade your components, but they still only really need to be able to clearly communicate how to play the game, they can just look a bit more polished as you continue to playtest.
Wow, very helpful! 👍🏾 Recently watched and listened to your BGDL interview on YT and Spotify. Most of the things mentioned in the video I already have, but just need to be better organized. Thanks for the video and will definitely go to my local Wally World, Good Will and Ollie’s to look for a bargain on storage bins, as well as other items for prototyping. Thank you, as well as Gabe Barrett of the Board Game Design Lab 🙏🏾
Thanks so much for watching! Yes getting some storage bins is super helpful, so nice to see everything all organized 🤩 Best of luck getting everything sorted and thanks again for watching 🙌
Thank you! It is currently in the archive but it’s central mechanic (keep the candy for points or eat the candy to move quicker, with the better treats at further away houses) could come back in one form or another.
I'm so glad RU-vid decided to recommend you! This is the first video of yours I've seen and you've instantly gained a subscriber. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to draw on blank dice before. That label trick will be so insanely helpful!
Yay! I’m glad you’re here! And yes that custom die trick is soooo handy. Thanks so much for subscribing, I’m glad my videos have been helpful for you 🙌
For custom dice Amazon has a huge pack of like 100 blank wooden dice I use for custom dice making! Question on player boards, any suggestions on the best way to do those? Is it best to do by hand for the first few tries like the actual board?
Oh a big pack of blank dice sounds awesome! Being able to write directly on them would save a bunch of time. For player boards, I just use scrap or computer paper to sketch it out and then once I feel like it’s taking shape and not changing too much anymore, I’ll lay it out in Google Drive using Google Draw and then print it out.
You have made yet another excellent video with plenty of tips. I haven't fully designed a prototype game yet, but I have plenty of components. If you can afford to do so, buying discount components from places like Game Crafter in bulk is always an option. I got a really good deal (even with shipping once) on discontinued components from their site. The caveat being, it's not really a cheap option when shipping to Canada (unless the circumstances allow for it). In the US, this might be something to consider.
I was going to include Game Crafter, but yeah it doesn't really fall under the "cheap" category, although most of my Game Crafter pieces were donated to a convention I used to organize, so I got those for free! But obviously that's not available for most people. Keeping an eye out for discounted products or sales is a good idea!
