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Long before you ever see a game at your friendly local game store, they've gone through plenty of tests and iterations to ensure they're fun and interesting. Since making art often comes towards the end of the game-making process, these prototypes can be... well, a little rough around the edges. We can still make them easy to read and fun to play with however, which is the goal of this piece.
(Quick aside here: game playtesters are awesome. Good playtesters bring out the best in a game long before art is complete, mechanics are smooth, and things are streamlined. On behalf on all game designers, thanks for your time, energy, and ideas!)
Prototypes
I tend to follow a few basic phases of playtesting my designs:
- Idea / brainstorming - Fleshing out the idea, creating the first couple of prototypes.
- Private playtesting - By themselves, with a few close friends and/or with family.
- Public playtesting - With fans, people that like the idea, or the like.
- Blind playtesting - Allowing people to learn the game from the rules and not from you.
Note that I haven't mentioned 'virtual playtesting' on services like Tabletop Simulator, Tabletopia or the like. That's because I have no experience with them, but more importantly, it becomes more challenging to ensure the current versions are the same across the board.
Consider these for playtesting once in steps three or four if you don't mind spending the time to ensure the 'components' look good.
Start by making it easy to update your components
Assuming your game has cards or tiles of some kind, and almost all do, you'll be making a lot of changes. Some designers start by just handwriting the most important details on cards or tiles to work on the balance.
Personally, I've found it easier to lay out the cards in Microsoft Powerpoint (yes, that Powerpoint). Copy one of my templates to start if you like, it's currently set to the worldwide A4 sheet standard, so if you're in the US, re-size the slide size to 'Letter' and adjust as necessary.
Start by making it easy to update your components
Assuming your game has cards or tiles of some kind, and almost all do, you'll be making a lot of changes. Some designers start by just handwriting the most important details on cards or tiles to work on the balance.
Personally, I've found it easier to lay out the cards in Microsoft Powerpoint (yes, that Powerpoint). Copy one of my templates to start if you like, it's currently set to the worldwide A4 sheet standard, so if you're in the US, re-size the slide size to 'Letter' and adjust as necessary.
Use a couple of fonts to set the mood
While there are plenty of online courses related to typography, a few tips on fonts are all you'll probably need:
- Serif fonts (like Times New Roman) are a bit more formal or traditional, while sans-serif fonts (like Arial or Helvetica) are more casual or modern.
- Fonts convey a mood or suggest a time frame. Look at the font used in the game title on the box and you'll quickly notice how well 'just the font' can convey the theme of the game.
- For prototypes, favour fonts that are easy to read. As a matter of fact, favour fonts that are easy to read all the time. Don't ever force your players to work harder than necessary just to understand your game...
- Since prototypes may not have much (or any) art, use the extra space to make the font size extra large.
- Aim for one header / display type of font and one body font for card text. More than two fonts can look unorganised or unwieldy.
Use clip art or icons to offer visual aids
If you have access to photo libraries or subscription-based sites, they're great for finding some basic icons. If you don't, or if you'd rather not pay for anything at this stage, head to game-icons.net for close to 3,000 icons common to plenty of games.
Better yet, those icons can be re-colored on the website and downloaded in various sizes for free. They're licensed as CC BY 3.0, which is Creative-Commons-speak for 'you need to credit the author', officially. While they can be used in final games, I'd suggest hiring a professional to ensure your icons are unique to your game.
How are you prototyping your game? Comments are open!