Board Game Design 101: Game Foundations

You Can Make Your Own Game!

In this introductory class, you will learn the first steps of creating your own tabletop game, including idea generation and capturing, as well as figuring out the fundamentals of what you want your game to be. In order to do this, there are 2 free worksheets to download to help you follow along with the class. At the end of this class, you'll have a method for capturing ideas, you'll pick one idea you want to move forward with and you'll write down all the essential foundations of your idea; giving you a solid platform from which you can continue developing your game. 

This class is perfect for anyone who's thought about making their own tabletop game but doesn't know where to start or for someone who's looking to improve their process of game design. REPEAT: This class is aimed at beginners who are looking for a method to start actually making their game.

This is the first class in a series that will take you all the way from writing down ideas through actually printing your game.

What this class is not:

• This is not an "idea to publication" guide for experienced game-makers.
• This is not about getting your game published or even playtesting.
• This is not an introduction to game theory.

This class is about:

• Helping newer game designers (or people wanting to start designing) answer the core questions that every game idea needs answered before it can be turned into an actual game.
• Inspiring anyone to try making a game of their own through using these step-by-step worksheets.
• Helping people experience game-making as a worthwhile hobby in and of itself.

There are two free downloads of worksheets for this class under the "Class Project" tab. Those worksheets are taken from my book, The Game Maker's Journal. If you are interested in purchasing the full book through Amazon, you can buy it here. The journal provides a step-by-step guide for the whole game-making process.

Looking for a more hands on class that helps you design a game? Then you should check out my class that is a Finish This Game project, where I give you the skeleton of a game and then walk through what you need to change or update in order to make the game your own. This class is great for newer designers that need more practice actually finishing games so they can level up their design skills. Check it out here!

• Introduction
• Supplies
• Philosophical Question
• Generating and Capturing Ideas
• Game Idea Worksheet
• Game Foundations Worksheet
• Bonus Example Game
• Where to Go From Here?