I'm intending this post to be a nice overview of things that Game Designers try to focus on while designing. These can be certain features you think make a great game, or mistakes that you want to avoid while designing. Please feel free to add your own "focuses" in your game designing lives, and comment/support others.
For instance, one thing I like to focus on is: Replayability
This is something that I look for when buying a game, so it's something I certainly try to incorporate when I design a game. Replayability, to me, doesn't mean that you should be able to play the game 3-4 times a day for two years without it getting stale. To me, replayability means that you can play it once or twice a week for quite a while and you'll continue to have a good time.
There are a few things that lead to replayability:
- Bunches of Cards with many combination (Dominion, Race for the Galaxy)
- Modular Boards (Settlers)
- Interaction based on players (Chinatown, most trading games)
And, for completeness, an offender:
- The Adventurers (Very neat gameplay, but static board ruins replayablity, and therefore makes me question its worth in my gaming collection)
And, on the flip side, something I try to AVOID while designing: Fiddlyness
This is something that annoys me when playing games: having to remember little rules that feel "tacked on" to the game play. Games should have a smooth, organic feel. Family games and Euro games tend to do this best, with Ameritrash being the main offenders, but this isn't always the cause.
Fiddlyness, I believe, is tied to the concept "does this make thematic sense?" If a rule or an action fits the theme, then it doesn't feel fiddly. Fiddly, in fact, can pull you out of a game and ruin game immersion.
Just some thoughts. How about yours?
This is another "design point" I try to adhere to: Limiting Components.
It is very easy to fall into a trap and have a thousand different tokens for a thousand different actions in a game. Lots of components could allow a lot of replayability - but can drive up the cost of the game itself.
I feel there's no need to limit components more than you have to (you don't want a game to feel "sparse" or "incomplete") but being mindful of the amount of components you're using is important when finishing up a board game design.
That being said, at the BEGINNING of a board game design, I say go hog wild with components - if there ends up being a good game in there, then start trimming/simplifying/smoothing out everything. I try not to limit myself during the "rough cuts" of games.