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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Creating a card game prototype in Tabletop Simulator
Diaries of a Wannabe Board Game Designer – Entry date 2026-01-04
In this entry of my “Diaries of a Wannabe Board Game Designer,” I’m going to show you how I implement my own board game designs into Tabletop Simulator (TTS) (https://store.steampowered.com/app/286160/Tabletop_Simulator/).
Tabletop Simulator is an useful tool for us designers. It allows me to find playtesters from all over the world, even when I don’t have enough people to test with locally. In this video, I’ll walk you through my entire process: from preparing card “grid sheets” and using the separate Deck Editor tool, to importing the components and setting up a playtesting session.
I hope this guide helps you get your game onto the digital table!
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Life after the contest
Design Diary – December 07, 2025
Unusually written by the designer himself, spellchecked by AI.
The design contest ended a week ago and I have had some time to think about the next steps. Unfortunately, I have no idea how the game was received, as only the top games in each contest category were named.
This is not too big of a disappointment, as there were so many great games in the contest. Congratulations to all designers who got their game to the podium! The games were great and all winners deserve their place at the top. If you have not checked them out, you really should do so: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3536713/2025-54-card-game-design-contest
Missing feedback
What is a bit of a disappointment to me is that I did not get any feedback on Hack-a-Pad from other contestants, good or bad. Getting feedback and learning is one main reason for me to participate in these contests. Well, one can’t have it all. Luckily, I’ve had an opportunity to playtest the game outside the contest and received constructive feedback that way.
Based on the feedback from live playtests, I’ve concluded that the game has a lot of potential. It also seems that hacking a pad is not something everyone sees as engaging or interesting, but those who do seem to really like the game and want to play more than once. This indicates that the game is not for everyone, but there is definitely a group of people who like it. Now my job as a designer is to make it irresistible for the people it is for.
Future development ideas
I will be continuing the design process now that I’m more free from the 54-card only limit of the contest. First things to do now, is to figure out more stable way to track AP and Privacy (perhaps spinners or player boards?) and to reintroduce mechanics for 3-4 (or even 6) player game that requires more cards. I’m also considering to create a solo player rules. So there is much to do with the game.