Make a Tabletop Game #1: Everyone's a game designer

This is a four-week course with 2-hour sessions on alternating Tuesdays at 2pm. See below for more details on dates. We kindly ask that you sign up only if you can attend most of the sessions

Come and learn how to make your own tabletop game - whether that's a boardgame, card game or RPG. Over the course of four sessions, you'll develop a game from an initial idea to a physical prototype. We'll guide you through creating and refining your design, testing it with other players, and refining it based on the feedback you receive. We'll also teach you how to build a physical prototype using our Makerspace tools, including 3D printers. These sessions are open to staff and students of all design experience levels. You might have an idea for the game you’d like to make or come up with one over the course.

We'll meet in the HELIX enterprise area, next to our staff office. What3Words for HELIX: https://what3words.com/arrow.vibes.lush

Please give us some feedback after you have attended a workshop or induction: https://forms.office.com/e/NpdjdFygr1

#1 Everyone’s a game designer - 21st October, 2pm - 4pm

Whether creating house rules for a family boardgame or modifying a playground game, everyone has done game design before. In this introductory session we’ll cover the game design basics, covering the stages of designing a tabletop game. We’ll look at two important parts of any game, theme and mechanics, and talk about how you can use them to shape the games you create.

In this session we’ll get to making quickly. Working in groups you’ll be given the challenge of modifying a “bad” game to make it more fun.

#2 Telling stories through mechanics - 4th November, 2pm - 4pm

Games create stories. In this session we’ll look at the different ways that games can tell stories: both through the narrative of the game itself, as well at the stories you create by playing.

In particular, we’ll focus on mechanics. We’ll spend some time playing some games to learn about the mechanics that they use, looking in detail at some of the more common ones. Mechanics are the building blocks of games, by hacking them together and modifying how they work, you can tell a range of different stories through the games you make.

#3 Make a game - 18th November, 2pm - 4pm

You’ve learnt about the basics of game design and have a toolkit of different mechanics that you can use it’s time to make your game! We’ll spend the first part of the session coming up with and refining the ideas for your game. You’ll use the boxing in technique to take an idea for a theme and pair it with the right mechanics.

You’ll work with your group to make the first prototype of your game. You’ll use the game design materials in HELIX to make a rapid prototype, showing the core ideas of your game. The aim here is to make something quickly, ready for playtesting it in the next session.

#4 Testing your prototype - 2nd December, 2pm - 4pm

You’ve created the first prototype for your game, it’s time to test it! In this session you’ll test your game with other groups, learning what works about your first prototype and what could be improved. We’ll cover the different types of game testing and when to use it, as well as what to look for when you are testing your game.

Game design is an iterative process – you make a rough version of your idea, play it, then improve it. After you’ve tested your game, and played some games that others have made, we’ll spend some time planning and making your changes. You’ll end the session with ideas for your second prototype.

We’ll also look at next steps if you want to continue to develop or even publish your game.

Game design club - 28th October, 7th and 25th November, 9th December

Game design club is a chance to work on your game alongside others doing the same. There'll be a chance to play games to learn more about how they work, playtest your ideas with others and get tailored guidance from the HELIX team.

We strongly encourage attendees of this course to attend these sessions too.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course you will:

• Have made a prototype of a tabletop game

• Be capable of designing a tabletop game from first idea through to testable prototype.

• Know what next steps you can take to further test, develop, promote and publish your game.

• Have played some 'modern' boardgames, developing skills analyse games to understand how their rules promote intended gameplay.

• Have tested your boardgame with peers in person, with a chance to develop skills giving and utilising playtest feedback.

• Begin to develop your own 'toolkit' as a game designer, learning techniques such as boxing in, hacking mechanics and rapid prototyping.