Ever feel like a copycat??

There are no original mechanics :-) Just like there aren't any original stories. What matters is the way they are fitted together. Princes of Florence wasn't the first game to have an auction round followed by an actions round after all.
Likewise, don't worry that there are a limited pool of auction types: Modern Art came out a decade ago and people haven't stopped making auction games, have they?

It certainly helps to have a USP* for your game, but the quality of the experience is more important. If the players are having fun, they are unlikely to care if they can see which games the various aspects came from (and often they will have no idea anyway!)

(*a Unique Selling Point is useful but sometimes it's an impediment if it prevents the design from developing properly: I consider the "dice tower" in Wallenstein to be a good example of this; it's a great concept but flawed and I think it has an adverse effect on the game as a result.)

My approach to game design (disclaimer: I am not an expert, just passionate) is to look at the game as thematically as possible and then work 'top down' to 'zoom in' on the necessary mechanics necessary that work with the theme. Often times this method will lead me to conclude that the game I want to make just can't be done practically in a board game format. The game may take too long or it won't be possible to make entertaining within the constraints of a 'board game world'. However, the beauty of this method is that you steer the design the way you want it to go, rather than trying to paste a theme onto a mechanic. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel like there's anything wrong with taking a strong mechanic and adding a theme to make it more palatable, I simply believe you won't fall into the trap of (feeling like you're) ripping off people's mechanics if you use the 'top down' approach.

I have said this a bunch, but I will say it again: 'There is nothing new under the sun.' Since we as designers do not live in a bubble, it's almost impossible to come up with something that is really 'new'. The best you can hope to do is vary an existing idea to some degree so that it produces something new and refreshing. That's the way our brains work; as creators of works and as consumers of works. Imagine this: Could a band like Metallica sell millions of records if they had existed in the 50 or 60s? No! To extend that even further, their particular brand of music would not even be possible. They needed to hear the bands that influenced them before they could produce the music they now do. The same holds true for games. I couldn't have come up with any of my ideas without people like Knizia, Jolly, and Kramer influencing my ideas.

One thing you may want to do is take a game with a theme you like and gameplay you didn't particularly like, then retool it into how you feel the game should play. Or take a game that you think is decent that has an aspect that really bugs you and retool that aspect. For instance, Scurra doesn't like the dice tower in Wallenstein. So if he felt inclined, he could come up with an alternate system for resolving combat.

I think the major aspect is to have fun! Your first few games *WILL* stink... And ideas you have that you thought were the 'be all end all' of game designs you realize are just so so. Game design, like anything else, is a progression. You won't hit a home run the first time at bat, but hopefully with some perserverence, you can raise your average after every attempt. =)

At any rate, welcome aboard! Glad to have you!
-Darke

Shhhhh. Don't tell people that, you'll only discourage them :-)

--
David

(*to forestall any PMs etc, yes I do know what this is referring to. But it was too good a feed-line to ignore.)

You guys don't have home runs in Cricket?

-Darke

Here is my sad but true story

In the late 90’s I developed a space combat game that had a simple and elegant way of keeping track of inertia and the space vehicles facing. The players needed no knowledge of higher math to do so, only requiring them you learn a simple 5 step system for checking their ship each turn after action was determined. Once a player was accustom to the system it only took a few seconds per step. I was quite proud of it but without a play group at the time it sat only half finished. Once I had found this group; I decided my first project would be to finish it. To my great dismay it was pointed out to me that there was a similar game. I looked up the rules and in some great joke of fate not only was it unbelievably similar but it predated my game by several years. So I moved on.

As a rule before I get exited about creating a game that is “unique” I search the BGG for any that use similar mechanics.