Wednesday 28 December 2016

Publishing Advice #20: Deceptive Love in Game Design

http://www.rakuontheboard.com/2016/12/deceptive-love-in-game-design.html

It's natural that mother loves her baby. And it's quite common that creator loves his creation! While loving a child will be fruitful and will bring a lot of joy, loving our inventions will give us nothing, or even worse - can be harmful! I'm not saying to hate our designs! I'm not stating that liking what we are doing or what we created is bad! I'm writing about a kind of love which stops us from making better games.

Thursday 22 December 2016

Gaming with Kids #4: How to Play Games Having 2-year-old Child

http://www.rakuontheboard.com/2016/12/how-to-play-games-having-2-year-old.html

I guess you had many exciting games with your family and friends. In the peaceful environment, you had a great time. That's such a simple life! But did you ever have a child coming around in the middle of play to start messing up? Did you have to deal with a little board game destroyer?

Friday 16 December 2016

Gaming with Kids #3: Children in Adult Gaming Groups



Board game groups give an excellent opportunity to play new games, meet amazing people and have lovely relaxing evenings! You can play there all sort of games! From quite light and easy to more challenging brainers.

A while ago I started running a Board Game Group in Thornbury, England. It's definitely a group for adults, and most of the games we play are not suitable for children. Anyway, I started thinking about my kids! Is there a place for them in the adult tabletop gaming group and how they can benefit from it? And on the other hand how not to upset other people and make sure they can fully enjoy their time? I'm aware that children's level is lower than adults and playing with them can be annoying. How to balance that?

Wednesday 7 December 2016

Publishing Advice #19: Game Testing in Schools


It's obvious that game testing is an essential stage in the board game development. I don't need to convince anyone to agree with this statement.  Great feedback from different groups of people is crucial and will help us to ensure that our game is best possible! For family and children games one of the most relevant group is children!

Tuesday 29 November 2016

Why Giveaway Prize Draw?


http://www.rakuontheboard.com/p/giveaway-prize-draw.html

Building a blog awareness is a very tough task. I found it extremely hard and I think I'm not the best in it! Anyway, I'm not giving up!

Wednesday 23 November 2016

Publishing Advice #18: Why Going to Bed Early Could Change Your Life


Why I'm writing about going to bed early on a board game design and publishing blog? That might sound quite strange but trust me and read this article to the end! A good sleep will have a significant influence on any part of your life, even on board gamer's life (I know that sounds weird)! It is a must for fellow designers and publishers as creativity and productivity are vital for us!

Wednesday 16 November 2016

Publishing Advice #17: Countries With a High Rate of Missing Parcels and Long Delays



I believe in treating all people equally. Everyone should have the same access to board games from any place in the world. However, life proves that there are a lot of things making that impossible. One is the shipping!

Wednesday 9 November 2016

Publishing Advice #16: Reach Storytellers and World-Builders


Every human being has his strengths and weaknesses. There is no point of denying that truth, and we are better to find others who can fill the gap of our weaknesses. Of course, that don't mean that board game designer can't have a tremendous talent in world-building, storytelling and character making; however it happens very rarely! And sometimes you might not have enough time to do everything yourself!

Thursday 27 October 2016

Publishing Advice #15: Green and Red Zones


There is quite a lot written about Green and Red zones. Some people will add a Yellow, Blue or Purple zones. There are available long psychological articles and books on the subject. I really, do not want to go there. However, I'd like to write about this from the perspective of a board game designer/publisher using quite a lot simplifications. This article will not be a scientific analysis but more my personal view.  Anyway, awareness on the subject is crucial. It will help to maintain our stamina, to work in a peaceful, joyful and efficient way. Otherwise, we can start hating our hobby, passion and finish with a breakdown.

Wednesday 12 October 2016

Publishing Advice #14: How to Write an Excellent Rulebook


Imagine you got a new game. Before you bought it, you read and watched a few reviews. It looks like you going to have a lot of fun! The box is big and heavy! In excitement, you are quickly unwrapping the game and opening it to see high-quality components: thick game board, loads of cards, wooden tokens and miniatures! Wow, if the gameplay is at least half good as your first impression you gonna have a great time with your friends!

Next day your mates came around to play the game for the first time. So you are opening the rulebook, and that's how your great first impression is gone! You can't get through it, and everyone gets annoyed. You can't figure out how to play the game from the manual! So you are trying to interpret the missing bits with your team. You play, and the experience is horrible. Your game drives you mad! Rubbish, you think!

But does that mean the game was so terrible? Maybe it is one of the best games on the market? Because of the poorly written rulebook, you can't say. You can only say the rulebook is rubbish!

Wednesday 28 September 2016

Publishing Advice #13: How to Reproduce the CE Marking



I decided to write this entry because I found some publishers doing it wrong. The letters in the Conformité Européenne (CE mark) have to have the right shape, and the distance between them should be kept right. The proportions must be respected. I hope this short blog post will help other fellow designers and publishers to avoid this simple mistake.

Thursday 22 September 2016

Publishing Advice #12: Deceptive Funding Goal Levels in Kickstarter Campaigns



When you are deciding to kickstart your game faster or later, you will have to make a decision about the level of your funding goal. Everyone know that the right funding goal level will attract backers while a wrong one will push them off. Too high funding goal will make people scared that the campaign won't reach that level while too low one will look like the creator won't be able to deliver rewards to backers (risk of fraud). Setting the funding goal should be honest, moral, based on your strategy and personal circumstances.

Thursday 15 September 2016

Publishing Advice #11: The Stages of Creativity in Board Game Design




That is an exciting subject for me! One of my favourite! I think creativity itself is one of the best gifts from God! A must for a board game designer! I would like to be more and more creative. I love when my head is full of ideas, and it is a great feeling when the brain gets hot!

But before I understood the process of creativity I felt a bit lost. Without basic knowledge, I couldn't perform at my best. I couldn't stimulate my brain to operate in its best performance and to use all capabilities of my personal computer!

The right understanding helped me to be more efficient. Read below to see how I understand the process of creativity.

Thursday 8 September 2016

Publishing Advice #10: Facing Haters

http://www.rakuontheboard.com/2016/09/publishing-advice-10-facing-haters.html

Constructive criticism is vital in professional board game design, and it's important after publishing the game. Without those wonderful people, designers and publishers would be left on their own and would have no clue about a lot of things going wrong. We learn from it; we can avoid mistakes and fix them. The list of benefits from the constructive criticism is very long!

However, irrational hate is something different!

Thursday 25 August 2016

Publishing Advice #9: Connect with Other Designers


I believe that all experienced game creators know other authors. They stay in touch with them and help each other. If you are new to the board game design, or you moved to another place, it is time for you to get in touch with others in your area!

Wednesday 17 August 2016

Gaming with Kids #2: Board Games - A Great Tool to Train Your Brain



Recently I have had the privilege to test my new board game in St. Chad's Primary School. I decided to finish testing the game in the school with the questionnaire. One of my questions on the survey was: What skills the game help kids to develop?

I received great feedback from children and teachers. I knew that games have a positive impact on our brains; however, that survey have had encouraged me to look closer to the benefits of the board games.

I don't want to concentrate on the survey I received from the school but on the benefits of the board games in general. And I won't write about social skills, but about “brain” skills.

Thursday 11 August 2016

Publishing Advice #8: Challenge Yourself and Design a Better Game


The board game design is vital for me! I'm still learning new things, changing my views and perspectives. I want to share some of my thoughts! Maybe it is normal for other designers, but for me, it's something new! Maybe someone won't agree with me, and that's ok.

Wednesday 3 August 2016

Publishing Advice #7: The Best Time to Publish Blog Entries


Running a blog is an excellent way to stay in touch with people who share your passion, to engage your customers and fans. It's particularly important to the board game authors/publishers! I learned all that from Jamey (Stonemaier Games), and I am following his great advice. I enjoy running a blog, writing. It's all amazing and interesting.

When you make a decision of starting a blog, one of the first questions is: when and what time I am going to publish my entries?

I would suggest starting with a different question: why?

But WHY you want to choose the best time?

I don't like the idea that a reader is just another number. Idea “more readers = more money” is so selfish! I hate that kind of thinking!

Wednesday 27 July 2016

Publishing Advice #6: Regularity in Running a Blog


Today I 'm writing about regularity as described in the title! It might sound odd because it is about one month since I published my last article. When I launched this blog, my goal was to publish one post per week. Of course I can find many excuses why I failed to stick to my plan: I created a new website layout, some other stuff; however, those are only excuses. I know this is the area where I need to improve.

It's good to understand that all newspapers, television programs, serious bloggers, etc. stick to their schedule because it is the key thing to gain a loyal audience! They know that being consistent works! Works for everything!

Monday 27 June 2016

Publishing Advice #5: Exchange Rates Fluctuations

Running any international business, including most Kickstarter projects, involves a high risk of exchange rate fluctuations. For many Kickstarter creators changes in conversion rates can pose serious problems of delivering the rewards to backers. Even a small change can mean winning or loosing a significant amount of money. Most likely, when producing a board game, there will be few stages of the process which can be affected by currency exchange fluctuations - the risk is increased.

Monday 20 June 2016

Gaming with Kids #1: Children's Misbehaviour While Playing Board Games


Often, when I'm playing board games with my family, my children begin to behave inappropriately. They get angry, upset and often start to cry and this can be the start of a tantrum. The pleasant atmosphere is gone, and I'm starting to think of sending my kids to bed early. That's a scenario which everyone would like to avoid.

Saturday 4 June 2016

Publishing Advice #4: How to Promote Your Project on BoardGameGeek

Do you like strangers walking from door to door, visiting your house and trying to sell you a shampoo and other stuff? Imagine now having ten visits every day and how would you feel about it?

It's the same with BGG. Just try to think how those people feel? Remember - BoardGameGeek is a community, not a market! It's not there to sell your game and make you famous. No one is gonna glorify you just because you created and published a board game. It doesn't works that way.

Monday 30 May 2016

Publishing Advice #3: How to Use BoardGameGeek


BoardGameGeek.com is a most important and influential board game community in the world! And the least user-friendly at the same time! In 2008 I was starting with BGG, and I thought I would give up. I was on the edge of throwing my computer through my window... heh

Thursday 26 May 2016

Publishing Advice #2: Crowdfunding - Blog & KickStarter Lessons by Jamey

Jamey Stegmaier is a quite well-known person. Very successful writer, designer and publisher. Especially because of his blog and KS lessons. I can't enough recommend Jamey Stegmaier's blog if you are on the subject! It's an eye opener for anyone who choose to design and/or publish board games (but not only). So why it's that special for me? Of course, you got all the knowledge you need, great tips, however, I'd like to point out what matters to me, and why it's worth following and getting in touch:

1. Bringing people together. Jamey promotes the idea of supporting each other. Designers, Publishers and all sort of individuals, who are involved, are like a big family. By helping others, we help ourselves! That's such a bold statement and so valuable.

2. I would describe Jamey as a real, honest and humble person. He promotes those values in his blog, and by setting up an example.

He deserves his success, and I wish him much more!

Do you read Jamey's blog? What do you value most in his blog?

Wednesday 25 May 2016

Publishing Advice #1: Self-reflection on Publishing Board Games

Years ago I managed to create a board game, and I have published it in Poland! It was a big step in my life with big expectations. It looked like I got an amazing idea how to start my adult life and become a successful person. And unfortunately, it hasn't been exactly how I had planned it. Here I pointed some mistakes I have made which may be useful for you:

1. Seek for advice
Listen to others, more experienced people. I don't mean to listen to everyone - I mean, listen to experienced chaps!

2. Kill your pride
There will always be a better way to do things! Don't stop at the point “I know everything” or “I don't need anyone”, that's not true. Be always open for a criticism and try to learn from it!

3. Become Open Minded
Be ready to experience new things and ways of doing things. Of course new doesn't always mean better!

4. Don't blame others
If something goes wrong don't blame others, look at the big picture, and you'll realise that what happened is because of your mistakes. And learn from them.