You don’t need a published game to call yourself a designer. If you want to be one, just start designing and you already are one.
WannabeBoardGameDesigner.com is a learning journal. An ongoing project to collect resources and share stories and information about the board game design for anyone interested in board games.
I share what I’m learning as I go, from first prototypes to playtests gone wrong, so you can skip a few mistakes and join the fun.
Join me at @tracon_fi today and test new version of Hack-a-Pad.
#boardgamedesign #boardgameprototype #playtesting #tracon
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19.5 hours of board game design concentrated in about 20 mins. youtu.be/p0zMb3jETtE #designdiary #boardgamedesign #wildwestgame #24hourchallenge #designprocess
ring the first 1,5 hours in a 24-hour design challenge I have this much ready. 1 page rules draft, about…
Follow me while I try to make a full playable game in just 24 hours. (www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZgKrVRWElz4) This time the BGG…
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BGG Design Contests: Bi-Monthly 24 Hour Design Challenge – GREEN
I have 24 hours to start from scratch and finish a fully functional game, including the rulebook, print-and-play (PnP) files, etc.
I’ll start working on the desing at wed 25th June about 8 AM (EEST). Update videos will be posted approximately every two hours throughout the process until the game is complete or the 24-hour limit expires and I fail the challenge.
Details about the challenge can be found here: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3510376/may-june-2025-bi-monthly-24-hour-design-challenge.
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Enter the rabbit hole of board game design – from idea to prototype
Diaries of a wannabe board game designer, entry date 16th May 2025
The jorney begins. How did I end up here?
What does it actually take to turn a spark of inspiration into a playable card game? In this first diary entry I walk through the earliest, messiest part of the design journey and share the concrete lessons I’ve learned so far:
Why “a good game” is more than a clever idea
Building the very first paper-prototype – and why your kid’s teddy bear makes a perfectly ruthless play-tester
Iterating with family feedback: tracking play-times, win ratios, and “this-is-boring” moments
Killing the fear of idea-theft – ideas are cheap, finished games aren’t
Essential resources
BoardGameGeek: cataloguing, research, and the best reality check on earth
Board Game Design Lab podcast: a goldmine of design wisdom (I binged 50 episodes in two weeks!)
Next hurdles:
finding a theme that truly fits, deciding between self-publishing and pitching, and lining up broader blind-playtests.
If you’re sketching your own game—or just curious about how much work hides behind that neat little box on the shelf—this episode will give you a candid look at the very beginning of the process and the mindset shifts that keep it moving.