Game Design

This channel is about game design, and occasionally about game development.

I (Dr. Lewis Pulsipher) am the author of Game Design: How to Create Video and Tabletop Games, Start to Finish (McFarland). Among the games I've designed is the minor classic Britannia (1986, 87, 91, 2006, 2008), and Dragon Rage (1982, 2011). Most recent game is Sea Kings (Worthington, 2015).

I offer online audiovisual courses, mostly about game design, at Courses.PulsipherGames.Com. (Also available, at much higher cost, at Udemy.com.) Among these are the book-length "Learning Game Design" (now divided into two) plus "How to design levels/adventures for video and tabletop games", "How to Write Clear Rules (and game design documents)", "Brief Intro to RPG Design", and "Playtesting, the Heart of Game Design".

Wikipedia: "Lewis Pulsipher"; "Britannia (board game)"; "Archomental"; Industry Insider Guest of Honor, GenCon 2013; blog http://pulsiphergamedesign.blogspot.com/; http://www.PulsipherGames.com

A Wrong way to design a game, part 2
A Wrong way to design a game, part 2
A Wrong way to design a game, part 1
A Wrong way to design a game, part 1
Forest and Trees
Forest and Trees
Pre-firepower wargames
Pre-firepower wargames
Target Audience
Target Audience
Should game rules include Strategy Playing Hints?
Should game rules include Strategy Playing Hints?
Discussion of Numbers and Probability, Part 2
Discussion of Numbers and Probability, Part 2
Discussion of Numbers and Probability in Wargames, Part 1
Discussion of Numbers and Probability in Wargames, Part 1
Will being an expert game player help your game design?
Will being an expert game player help your game design?
Strategic (war)game Design: Maps
Strategic (war)game Design: Maps
Level and Adventure Design: Wargame Scenarios
Level and Adventure Design: Wargame Scenarios
10
10 "Need to Knows" about protecting your Intellectual Property, part 2
10
10 "Need to Knows" about protecting IP (Intellectual Property), part 1
Strategy: Scalpel not Bludgeon
Strategy: Scalpel not Bludgeon
Children's Games (from an archery tournament?)
Children's Games (from an archery tournament?)
Writing Rules: Flowcharts and Lookup Tables
Writing Rules: Flowcharts and Lookup Tables
Game Hits, Virality, and Handling Success
Game Hits, Virality, and Handling Success
Card game design: Hand size, Variable Hand Size Limits
Card game design: Hand size, Variable Hand Size Limits
Confusions of game design: game design vs game development
Confusions of game design: game design vs game development
Important factors in warfare . . . and wargames?
Important factors in warfare . . . and wargames?
Sequence of Play Rules Outline
Sequence of Play Rules Outline
Using someone else's IP (intellectual property)? Bad idea.
Using someone else's IP (intellectual property)? Bad idea.
Peculiarities and special cases of RPG rules
Peculiarities and special cases of RPG rules
Translations of your rules into other languages
Translations of your rules into other languages
Confusions of game design: providing context is not modeling
Confusions of game design: providing context is not modeling
Maneuver and slaughter in grand tactical/operational wargames
Maneuver and slaughter in grand tactical/operational wargames
Level/adventure design: Situations vs Specifics, Independence vs Hand-holding
Level/adventure design: Situations vs Specifics, Independence vs Hand-holding
Avatars of three types, contrasted with RPGs
Avatars of three types, contrasted with RPGs
Stages where a game design might be abandoned
Stages where a game design might be abandoned
Victory conditions in battle games
Victory conditions in battle games