Jesse Fuchs

Siblings Shontoya, Shen, and Shondra attend a game design summer camp on a space station with Professor Zephyr. Along the way, it includes templates and instructions for games to play, playtest, and modify. Back matter includes a glossary, a Hex board with game rules, and a playtest feedback form. A solid foundation of game design with lots of ideas for hands-on activities.

See also: Grace Needs Space

Notes

Games are voluntary, have a goal, and have limits.
"Limits are a big part of what makes a game interesting." (18)

Piet Hein's six questions ("Is this game fun?")
Is it...progressive? final? decisive? strategic? emergent? fair? (30)

"A mechanic is a thing that you can do in a game to change its outcome." (37) - social mechanic, connection mechanic (like Hex), etc.

Chance and probability - coin/dice memory vs card memory
Ducks in a Row p. 46
Six Card Mini Golf p. 49-50

Player interaction - high or low (51)

Some games have dice memory, some have card memory, some have both, some have neither (55)

"playing a game creates a story" (57)

"Theming" refers to the setting, characters, artwork - anything that gives you a narrative context for the game. Mechanics are "what," theme is "why." (58)

protagonist, goal, beginning/middle/end (58)
a game will be a little different each time you play (59)

Tug-of-War game (60)

Mechanics/actions help create a game's narrative (67)

Games don't require physical components (75)

"The most important thing is that playing the game creates a satisfying experience" (77)

boardgamegeek.com (BGG)

In game design, a module is a set of rules that fit into a bigger game, e.g. each piece on the chess board is a module. (95)

Let's Destroy Chess! (100)

When writing rules, consider the order of operations. Tell players what they're supposed to do and what order to do it. Think about the rules in the order players need them, from beginning to end. (105)… (mehr)