design

The Great Game Molecules

Grant Rodiek | June 03, 2013

The "elements of a great game" post has been written numerous times, I think even once or twice by me. However, when playing games on Friday, many of them new, I was a little bothered by how some of them seemed to completely miss the mark.

York Faction Preview: Republik Militia

Grant Rodiek | May 06, 2013

Welcome to the second of four Faction previews for my upcoming game, Battle for York. You can read the first preview about the Imperial Army (and learn the basics of the game) here. You can also check out the game's page on my site or BGG.

Design with Purpose

Grant Rodiek | January 11, 2013

Every idea sounds great in your head, but as soon as pen hits paper and a prototype is formed, the game is just missing something. It's not what you wanted or it isn't what you promised your testers.

Balance Testing

Grant Rodiek | September 14, 2012

I wrote a post earlier on Faction Design. This new post is similar, but not quite the same. I've also written about Testing your game. The development of Empire has been such a fruitful experience, both in that I feel I've made my second good game (Farmageddon being the first) and that I've learned an absurd amount, especially about designing more complicated games.

Poor Abby Progress Report

Grant Rodiek | April 13, 2012

I've reached a minor milestone with my newest game, Poor Abby Farnsworth, and I wanted to take a moment to write about its development so far. I just ordered my first print version of the game with nicer cards and some rough, but passable graphic design and iconography.

Chasing Inspiration

Grant Rodiek | March 28, 2012

This post is a bit of a case of "thinking out loud." It's not overly personal and shouldn't be awkward, I just wanted to arrange some thoughts that are relevant to design and my processes. Post by: Grant Rodiek I think every designer has inherent strengths, portions of the design process with which they have a certain affinity or strength.

Card Design Commandments

Grant Rodiek | March 21, 2012

I have a thing for card games. I like playing them and I like designing them. Every time I try to veer away from cards to tackle another component like dice, I always end up right back with a box full of index cards and penciled scribbles.