I’ve quit my job to become a board game designer. Brilliant, right?!?
Well, maybe that’s not the whole story. The more complete version is that after over two decades working in tech as a UX designer and leader, I needed a change. I’d been dabbling in board game design for a while as a hobby, and over the past few months, it has become clear that this is something I want to do more of, more often. So I’ve decided to make a go of it.
And I’m going into it with my eyes wide open. I understand that the likelihood of making a living designing board games is extraordinarily small. Succeeding in such a competitive industry will require hard work and luck, especially starting from scratch with no contacts in the industry and an incredible amount to learn. But big dreams make life worth living, and this is mine.
Designing games, then and now
As a kid, I found so much joy designing games for and with friends – making up card games from scratch or creating a Monopoly variant themed around the families in my neighbourhood. If I wasn’t playing games, I was making them. In the decades since, board game design took a back seat to many other life endeavours. But somehow, it was always there, slipping out of the cracks in unexpected ways.
More recently, board game design has become a more focused pursuit, beginning with an attempt at a hot pepper-themed set-collection game a little over a year ago. After a couple of prototypes and playtests, I put this game on the shelf (it was more of a chore than a game 😅) for the time being. I’ve spent the past couple of months designing a set-collection-style race game with my 7-year-old daughter called Fruitasia. While it doesn’t scream commercial success, the process has brought us both so much joy, and I’ve learned a heck of a lot along the way.
Do Make Play
I’ve spun up Do Make Play as a way to share and document my journey and progress as a beginner game-maker. I’m keen to do some thinking and writing at the intersection of board game design methods and UX design, pulling on my twenty-plus years of experience in that field. I hope that my journey might one day help other new designers get started on their own.
I’d be lying if I said my head wasn’t spinning at the magnitude of the task ahead. Designing games is so much more than just that – how do I join and contribute to the community? Which conferences should I attend? How do I find time to play more games? How do I more effectively learn from the games I’ve played? How do I build my network? The list goes on…
The journey is a marathon, not a sprint though, and it truly starts with one, (not so) simple task: Design a fun game 😎
See you at the tables!
