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It’s Your Turn…

A helpful resource for all aspects of designing board games: game design, prototyping, playtesting, publishing, and much much more!

BGDF Published Designers Database

Fri, 11/08/2013 - 21:32 — richdurham

Published game designer? Show that BGDF has street-cred in the design world!

Enter your published game here!

View the BGDF Designers' list here!

Welcome to the Board Game Designers Forum

Thu, 11/10/2011 - 14:39 — richdurham

Well, the entry was a little bumpy, but you've made it to the Board Game Designers Forum. Welcome!

Please take a moment to start a thread introducing yourself in this Welcome forum. Tell us what brings you here to BGDF, what games you might be working on, or any questions you have in particular about game design, prototyping, or publishing.

Then take a look around, if you haven't already. Get involved with the other BGDF designers. Here's what you can expect.

[GDS] February 2017 "Scattered audience challenge"

Mon, 02/06/2017 - 03:29 — richdurham

This challenge is part of the 2017 Annual Game Design Showdown to create the future of party games. You can read more about the Game Design Showdown in general here.

This month, your challenge involves how players sit during game-time. Often it's around a table - or if there's a big group game, in a circle. In this challenge, you must design a game where your players may have irregular seating. This can mean many things. You should focus on one or more of these with your design:

  • Players may be standing
  • Players might be sitting in various couches or chairs, but not in a circle.
  • Their may be players in separate rooms, or otherwise not be able to see or hear each other.
  • Some mix of these.

Your game can be any style, any theme, but it must involve one of the above non-standard player arrangement. The number of players is up to you.

[GDS] 2017 "Party like it's 2999"

Mon, 01/23/2017 - 03:51 — richdurham

It's time for the first major change to the GDS.

Read up on the new, longer, format here http://www.bgdf.com/annual-game-design-showdown

The gist is that the GDS will span a whole year - with the initial half using the old monthly GDS-like challenges to help you develop your game. The latter half of the year is devoted to creating and sharing the artifacts for your game to share - down to sell sheets for publishers.

In January, which is now, you'll get the overarching theme. Mull it over.

[GDS] December 2016 "Publish This"

Sun, 12/04/2016 - 03:58 — richdurham

Entries are in!

For the final GDS of the year, there are more than one comical take on what publishers 'want' to publish. Take a look through entries and then submit your votes using the form here

  • Voting: Through the 20th. Votes will be through a form (link posted after submission period is ended).

  • Voting Format: Each person has 3 Medals (Gold, Silver, and Bronze - with values 3, 2, and 1 vote respectively) to distribute any way they choose among the GDS entries with the following restrictions:

    • Entrants may not assign any Medals to their own entry!

    • Entrants must assign all 3 Medals.

    • An entrant who does not assign all 3 Medals will receive a Pyrite Medal (-3 votes) as a penalty.

[GDS] NOVEMBER 2016 "Timing is everything"

Wed, 11/02/2016 - 18:53 — richdurham

Only 1 entry for the November thread, which is posted below. Congratulations to andymorris for participating! Discussion for the game will be in the comments thread, along with news on what's going to be new with the GDS next year.

Please Read: Details on entering the Game Design Showdown.

A bit late, but it’s time for the November GDS! In fact, timing is part of the restriction. The world doesn’t operate in rounds and turns, so why do so many games? Wars are real-time, city construction is real-time. Real-time games, of course, have a problem in that you are changing a game-state, but also need a set game-state to base your actions on.

So now your challenge, designers, is to make a competitive real-time game with a “big-game theme” from the broad list below. To add a little more spice to the mix, you cannot make dexterity a primary mechanism in the game.

[GDS] OCTOBER 2016 "A Classic Spin"

Sun, 10/02/2016 - 05:10 — richdurham

We have a winner!

Loco Crazy by gilamonster

Some good discussion following the September challenge. Discussion is where it's at now. Our feedback is the only reward these designers get, so let's make it good.

[GDS] September 2016 "Marble games"

Wed, 08/31/2016 - 17:14 — richdurham

Entry is in!

Thanks to Opinioso for submitting the only entry. It's posted in the comments below for the usual look through. In lieu of voting, let's discuss the entry and how it met the challenge. How did other designers feel about the challenge? Why was it not interesting or too hard?

Please see the Questions and Comments thread for more.

[GDS] AUGUST 2016 "Go Go Gadget GenCon"

Mon, 08/01/2016 - 00:57 — richdurham

We have a winner!

Royal Progress

by gilamonster

Let's give these designers some feedback in the critiques thread for taking the time out of convention season to keep the contest alive.

[GDS] JULY 2016 "Time's Up"

Fri, 07/01/2016 - 07:11 — richdurham

We have a winner!

Courier Now

by A Round Tuit

Only a few entries this round. Summer is getting the better of us! Timers are difficult to use creatively, so let's see what everyone came up with, shall we? Find the critiques thread here.

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by Dr. Radut