Make Your Own Board Game: Designing, Building, and Playing an Original Tabletop Game

by Jesse Terrance Daniels

Overview

Tabletop board games are having a comeback, and especially within a younger, tech-y audience who enjoys the challenge and opportunity to work in an analog sphere. Game design expert Jesse Terrance Daniels teaches all the fundamentals of game design, from rule-setting to physical construction, along with original illustrations that capture the ethos and energy of the young, contemporary gaming community.
 
Readers will learn the “building blocks” of game design, including game components, rules, and gameplay mechanics, and then how to craft a game, with a variety of examples and design prompts. After completing Make Your Own Board Game, readers are equipped with a broad understanding of game construction and flow and ready to create games that are playable and satisfying, while also expressing the makers’ unique creativity and passions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635863413
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	08/30/2022
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	544,959
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Jesse Terrance Daniels,creator of the award-winning “Hibernation” game, is the founder of Pied Raven Games. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in Animation. He’s worked in the marketing industry, held gallery shows, and published his art in magazines and journals. Jesse, his wife, and his pup live in Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Dedication
For the Gamer in Everyone
Preface
Why Gaming?

1. WHAT MAKES A GAME?
Components
Rules
Gameplay

2. MECHANICS
Turn Order
Actions
Movement
Boards & Maps
Randomization
Currency & Ownership
Cards
Negotiation & Hidden Information
Role Playing
Puzzles
Physical Dexterity
Variables
Winning

3. GAME CRAFTING
Duely Noted
Rain Toads
Intergalactic Laboratory
Hovels & Hydras

Template Components
Glossary
Index

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2022

Gr 8 Up—This book is a great resource for tabletop gaming players and those who would like to create their own board games. Strategy and game devices are discussed and explained in great detail by Daniels, a board game creator and founder of a tabletop game-making company. There is also an interesting exploration about the benefits of gaming and why people enjoy it so much. Many different types of games are showcased. The book includes information on choosing a theme for a tabletop game, deciding what components will be part of it (dice, cards, etc.), and setting up the rules of game play and how to win. The hand-drawn art is bright, featuring diverse faces, and is an asset to the book. In general, the book is well designed and full of information. Several original games are featured in the back, as are game pieces and cards to be used for play. VERDICT Beginning gamers along with intermediate gamers will find something of interest in this title. A recommended purchase for library collections.—Jami Livingston

School Library Journal