A Beginner’s Guide to Becoming a Game Designer

Want to Become a Game Designer? Start with a Board Game!

If you’re passionate about becoming a game designer but unsure where to begin, there’s a simple and powerful starting point: design a Tabletop or Board Game.

Why start here ? Because board games don’t require programming skills or software. All you need is paper, everyday objects, and your imagination. This hands on method helps you grasp fundamental game design principles like mechanics, balance, pacing, and player interaction.

Step by Step: Designing Your First Board Game

1. Pick a Simple, Fun Game to Study

Choose a classic board game that’s easy to learn and fun to play, like Snakes and Ladders.
Take notes on what works well. What makes it fun or frustrating ? What would you improve ?

2. Identify Core Components

List the physical elements your version needs e.g., dice, tokens, game board, cards, etc.
This helps you visualize your design and understand how all parts interact.

3. Define Your Target Audience

Who is your game for ?

Children ? Teens ? Adults ?
Solo players or groups ?
Tailoring your game to a specific audience helps guide your decisions about difficulty, theme, and tone.

4. Modify the Experience

Now add your twist:

Remove features that feel boring or repetitive.
Add new mechanics or rules to increase excitement.
Simplify or balance the game to improve the player experience.
Example: Add power ups, shortcuts, or penalties to Snakes and Ladders for more strategy.

5. Create a Prototype

Sketch your game board and rules on paper or cardboard.
Use whatever is available like LEGO bricks or coins to represent pieces.

6. Playtest and Refine

Test your game over and over. Pay attention to what works and what doesn’t:

Is the game too long ? Too easy ? Too random ?
Are players having fun or getting confused ?
Revise rules or components as needed.

7. Play with Others

Once it works solo, invite friends or family to play.
Watch how they engage with the game and collect honest feedback.

8. Iterate, Don’t Hesitate

Keep refining your game through feedback and repeated testing.
Your goal: a smooth, balanced, and enjoyable game experience.

9. Avoid Over Designing

Don’t drift too far from your original vision.
Adding too many mechanics or changing genres can make the game feel unfocused.

Final Step: Document Everything

Now that you’ve play tested and iterated on your design, it’s time to write your first Game Design Document (GDD).
Include:

Game overview and goal
Target audience
Core mechanics
Components list
Rules and variations
Playtesting notes and feedback summary

This GDD is your blueprint, a professional step toward designing digital games in the future.

Congratulations, You’re a Game Designer!

You’ve just taken your first real steps into the world of game design. Whether you stay in the tabletop space or move into video games, the skills you’ve built, prototyping, testing, iterating, and documenting are essential in every game design journey.

Now go create something awesome!

Real World Implementation

An example of a game I have worked on using this technique is a simplified version of Ludo, designed to make the gameplay much faster.

The procedure I have carried out:

Reduced the board size by 60%.
Applied 60% of the original game’s rules.
Used 50% of the original game’s tokens.

Play the game from the following link – Telegram