How to Develop and Produce Your Own Board Game

I am an 11th grader currently attending Lower Merion High School. This is my board game:

Travel back to the 1920s and venture into the world of Tourist Takeover! Players play as competing travel agencies attempting to market the Seven Wonders of the World to prospective tourists and claim the profits from those wonders for themselves.

In Tourist Takeover, three to five travel agencies place holding tokens on up to seven wonders while adding tourists to those wonders. Once two wonders are maxed on tourists, the game ends and agencies with the most holding tokens on a wonder will claim the tourists on it. The agency with the most tourists wins.

There’s a myth in many modern board games that to offer deep strategy, games must be long and complicated. This is reflected in many popular games such as Brass: Birmingham, Terraforming Mars, Through the Ages, and Great Western Trail. Drawing from gameplay elements of the emerging genre of “roll and write” games as well as fast-paced card games, Tourism Takeover seeks to break traditional molds and present deep strategy at a simple and accessible level.

To achieve deep strategy, most games offer many different actions to players. This is effective at giving players options, thus creating strategy, but can lead to long and slow games with extremely high learning curves. This is no problem for hobbyist board gamers, so it has become somewhat of an industry standard for strategy games to take this approach. Enter a board game convention and expect to be sitting at one table for at least an hour. Needless to say, this does not suit many other people. Perhaps the most simple way to speed and streamline gameplay is to simplify the rules and limit the number of options players have. It is, however, a struggle to do this without destroying any depth of strategy (citation: most “family” board games). The solution to this problem are unique mechanics. Tourist Takeover’s gameplay of adding points to different objectives while simultaneously trying to claim the objectives from opponents, but being unable to accomplish both at the same time accomplishes this. Bluffing, area control, and semi-cooperativeness are all combined in one. Additionally, despite few possible actions, players have many possible options. On a turn, players either play three wonder cards to place one holding token on the three corresponding wonders or permanently discard one wonder card to place three holding tokens on that wonder. Players also play another wonder card to add between one and three tourists to that card. This gives players 182 different possible turns, with very few rules. Figuring out the best moves while predicting an opponent's actions achieves deep strategy.

Few actions doesn’t necessarily mean fast gameplay (citation: trying to finish chutes and ladders), but Tourist Takeover solves that problem as well. Recently there’s been a trend of “roll and write” games in which players play simultaneously, and a large part of the appeal is the fast playtime and the lack of a break between turns. Few “traditional” strategy games implement this, but Tourist Takeover does, providing fast paced strategy as well as uniqueness.

With everything Tourist Takeover does to be different and unique, it is reasonable to wonder if a market still exists; after all, unique does not often mean good. However, the few times in recent years simple games have offered deep strategy, they have been immensely successful. 2014’s Splendor has been nominated for over 30 awards and is ranked in the top 200 on BoardGameGeek. Splendor achieved most of what Tourist Takeover hopes to achieve, albeit with rather different mechanics and gameplay, and succeeded for that. There have been no true peers to Splendor so the niche in the market remains. Through innovation, uniqueness, and creativity, Tourist Takeover provides deep strategy to players in an accessible fashion. Players venture first into the 1920s, but then venture towards success.

Supplies

Below are the materials and software used to create the game. The game's components are not made of many different materials in an effort to keep it simple

Materials:

2mm magnets - placed inside wonders

4mm magnets - placed inside wonders

304 Stainless Steel - Used to create the coins

African Mahogany - Used to create the majority of the box and center portion of the board

Red Cedar - Used to make the board

MDF - Used for the bottom of the box

Polycarbonate - Used for the top and the side of the box

3D Printer Resin - Used to create all of the wonders

3D printer filament - Used to make the card box

Playing Card paper - Used to make the cards

Plywood - Used to create reminder cards

Software:

Fusion 360 - Used for CAD (section on this later)

Meshmixer - Used to manipulate CAD models so they could be resin printed

Cura - Used to create g-code for the FDM printer to make the card box

Photon Workshop - Used to create g-code for the resin printer to print the wonders

Adobe Illustrator - Used to create the art

Adobe Photoshop - Used to create the art

Procreate - Used to create the art

Step 1: Intended Audience

As previously expanded upon, Tourist Takeover provides deep strategy with fast play times and accessible rules. This makes the game playable for nearly everyone, but who it is marketed to is important. Splendor marketed towards hobbyist board gamers wanting a shorter strategy game for when there isn’t time for longer options. Kingdomino, another game attempting strategy at an accessible level, chose to market towards families and children of hobbyist board gamers. Splendor funded tournaments and featured at many board game conventions, while Kingdomino sent copies to toy stores. Both approaches have their merits and would be suitable for Tourist Takeover, but which was more successful? Comparing sales, Splendor, with over one million copies sold, is clearly more successful. While Kingdomino is largely irrelevant on the competitive scene, there were three different Splendor tournaments at the most recent PAX Unplugged board game convention. Both games have many expansions, but Splendor’s are higher rated and more successful. Since hobbyist board gamers spend more money on board games than any other group, this is logical. Considering all of this, it strongly suggests that Tourist Takeover should pursue the hobbyist board gamer market.

To appeal to hobbyist gamers, well produced components are of utmost importance. Players spend a lot of money on accessories such as custom tables, so they are willing to pay more for higher quality game pieces. This is reflected in our high quality construction. Additionally, the graphics must be sleek and sophisticated. Our art accomplishes that.

For marketing to the hobbyist market, the starting space is almost always in the unpublished board game community. Within our local area, there are weekly meetups for aspiring designers that provide an opportunity for game testing, gaining a following, and presenting to the occasional publisher. Larger events such as “UnPub”, an unpublished game exposition, also occur several times a year giving more chances to build a following. Games often spend one to five years in this stage, trying to secure a publisher. Self publishing has grown in popularity recently with “Kickstarter”, a crowdfunding platform, so if enough following was gathered, that would be an alternative to the traditional route. Most successful “Kickstarters” have large and flashy game pieces as well as a high quality of production, both of which our game achieves, so this is not to be overlooked. After a publisher has been secured, or a successful “Kickstarter” was launched, demo copies would be sent to board game outlets such as “Dicebreaker” and “Shut Up and Sit Down” and the game would be advertised at conventions.

Moving forward, expansions and alternative versions of games have been very successful for Splendor and Kingdomino and publishers are much more likely to publish games if there is potential for expansions. Recently two player versions of games have been very popular, and since Tourism Takeover is designed for three to five, this would fit perfectly. Additionally, there are more possible mechanics that could be added to spice up the game for more experienced players, such as unique wonder abilities and asymmetric agency powers. These expansions not only provide additional opportunities for profit, but also keep players playing Tourism Takeover for longer, building a dedicated fanbase.

Step 2: The Rules

In Tourist Takeover 3-5 players play as tourism agencies, balancing bringing tourists to wonders and attempting to claim the profits for themselves. Agencies will place both tourists and holding tokens on wonders, in an effort to gain the most holdings in, and thus claim the wonders with the most tourists. The game ends when two wonders are maxed out on tourists, and the agency with the most tourists wins.

Components:

7 piece board + centerpiece

7 wonders

30 holding tokens per player

7 wonder cards per player

3 tourist cards per player

1 four-sided die for a randomized setup

5 rule reminder cards

Setup:

Assemble the board by sliding the magnetic ends into the centerpiece. Give each player a set of 7 wonder cards and 3 tourist cards. Give each player their 30 holding tokens. Play with 2 more wonders than players. For each wonder, roll the four-sided die and place the corresponding number of wonder pieces on it. After the starting quantities of all wonders in play have been randomized, the game can begin.

Gameplay:

All play is simultaneous. During a turn, there’s two steps a player will be completing, adding tourists and increasing holdings. Note that both of these are at the same time, but are distinct. 

When a player adds tourists, they place a tourist card and a wonder card in front of them. These cards will be revealed at the same time as increased holdings. When revealed, the player will add a number of pieces to the wonder as stated by the tourist card.

Players have two different options in increasing holdings. The most common is a player placing 3 wonder cards on the table and then upon revealing, placing one holding token on each of the corresponding wonders. Another option is to permanently discard one wonder card to add 3 holding tokens to the corresponding wonder.

Once all players have made their selections for adding tourists and increasing holdings, all actions are revealed, and wonders are added onto and have holdings placed on them accordingly. All cards that weren’t permanently discarded are returned to the player's hands. Play repeats until the game ends.

Once a wonder has 12 tourists added to it (the wonder’s building will be completed) all players permanently discard the corresponding wonder card.

End of the game:

When two wonders have had 12 tourists added to them, the maximum number, the game ends.

Scoring:

Players gain all the tourist points in the wonders in which they have the most holding tokens. If there’s a tie, the tourists are split between the tied players. Whichever player has the most tourist points wins the game.

Step 3: Board Game Art

I used Procreate and Adobe Illustrator to bring my vision to life. I was inspired by the 1920s time period, specifically the art deco style, which I discovered through researching vintage travel posters and 1920s films. I wanted to capture the grandeur and adventure of that era, so I took inspiration from The Art of the National Parks and used a block color style that would evoke a "larger than life" feeling. I felt that using a style associated with famous tourist attractions would emphasize the tourism component of our game. To differentiate between the wonders, I chose a monochromatic color scheme for the wonder cards and a bichromatic color scheme for the tourist cards to show a more general usage.

Step 4: Creating the Box

I was inspired by vintage suitcases from the 1920s to capture the theme of the game. I based the design on actual suitcases that I had seen in person, as well as examples I found online. I chose African Mahogany for the wood to capture the classic rustic tone of the suitcase and incorporated typical stickers into the box art on the top and sides.

I started by cutting the raw lumber into boards of the appropriate length and milled them to the desired thickness. I rip cut the boards to the planned height of the box and cut dado grooves for the inlay art work and smaller dado grooves for the lid and bottom to slide into. I then glued all the pieces together and cleaned the glue seams.

After the box was dry, I placed it vertically on the table saw to cut the lid off and attached steel hinges to the back to simulate a similar configuration to vintage suitcases. I cut two leather straps from raw leather, stitched and treated them, and attached buckles to act as the locking mechanism for the box. I fabricated metal corners and fitted them to each corner, screwing them onto the box. Finally, I added a handle to the front of the box to complete the suitcase style.

I believe that the suitcase brings an element of immersion and class to the final product and enhances the overall experience for the player.

Step 5: Creating the Board

I handcrafted the gameboard using black walnut wood for the centerpiece and black cherry wood for the individual boards. I sourced the wood pieces from past projects and milled them to the appropriate thickness. To create the circles on the top and bottom sections of the centerpiece, I used a bandsaw and a custom-made disc sander jig. The centerpiece consists of three sections, with the top and bottom sections both being circles with a 6” diameter and the middle section having a 1¾” diameter. The bottom and middle sections are ¼” thick, while the top section is ½” thick. I inlaid seven magnets into the bottom side of the top piece, which will hold each board piece. I also screwed a lazy susan type mechanism onto the bottom section, allowing the entire board to spin for ease of play. Each of the seven individual boards was cut from a slab of 4/4” black cherry wood that I had resawn in half. After milling them to the proper ¼” thickness, I traced the proper size and angles for the shape of the board pieces before cutting them on the bandsaw and sanding them to the final size. Finally, I inlaid magnets into the ends of each board so that they could properly attach to the centerpiece.

Step 6: Creating the Models

Why did I decide to use 3D models for the game? Having 3D models in a board game can greatly enhance the overall playing experience. The models add a sense of realism and immersion to the game, making the players feel like they are actually interacting with physical objects rather than just abstract concepts. The 3D models can also help players to better visualize the game's setting and theme, making it easier for them to understand the game's mechanics.

Additionally, 3D models can also add a tactile element to the game, making it more engaging for players to physically manipulate the pieces on the board. This can make the game feel more interactive and engaging for players, as they can touch and move the pieces around the board, rather than simply moving tokens or markers, which can be boring. 3D models also make the game more visually appealing, and can attract new players who might not be interested in traditional board games. The physical presence of the models can also make the game more memorable and more fun to play.

Many of the models are 3D scans which were imported into Fusion 360 to be split. 3D scans were chosen to emphasize accuracy. The models are split into 12 unique pieces to fit the game mechanics. When splitting the models, consideration was given to many factors, but above all, I wanted to make the game feel like you are building a wonder. Every section was designed so you are adding something significant. In addition, every model has a flange or two magnets at every joint, which makes it so pieces can only be placed in one orientation. I then 3D printed the pieces on a DLP printer and painted them for added realism. DLP, or Digital Light Processing, is a type of 3D printing technology that uses a digital light projector to cure a liquid resin into a solid object. This allows for faster print speeds compared to other methods of printing, as the entire layer is cured in one go. DLP printers are known for producing parts with high resolution and fine details, making them ideal for small, highly detailed parts and prototypes. This makes it perfect for printing the wonders due to their intricate nature. Overall, 3D models in a board game can greatly enhance the overall playing experience. The models add a sense of realism and immersion to the game, making the players feel like they are actually interacting with physical objects rather than just abstract concepts.

Step 7: Coins and Other Elements

In addition to the wonders, I created 150 stainless steel tokens and coin holders for added tactile gameplay. All elements were, of course, designed and fabricated by the team. Stainless steel is a type of steel that contains a minimum of 10.5% chromium, which makes it resistant to corrosion and rust. This made it a sensible choice for the tokens and other items that need to be durable and long-lasting. The process of cutting stainless steel coins began with the use of a CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine, which uses a computer to control the movement of the cutting tools. The CNC machine is programmed with the design of the coin, which is used as a guide for the cutting tools to follow. The cutting tools are then used to cut the coin to the desired shape and size. The coins in the board game were also engraved on the top using a laser etcher. We decided to do this to add detail to an otherwise plain game piece.

Step 8: Conclusion

In conclusion, I am very pleased with the outcome of the game. I hope reading the above inspires you to want to play my boardgame. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. I am eager to hear your thoughts and feedback.