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Some resources Sticky

A topic by Rémi Töötätä created Jun 03, 2018 Views: 492 Replies: 1
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HostSubmitted (3 edits) (+2)

Hi!

Physical games can be a bit strange to think about when you're used to videogames. So this topic is for sharing resources, references of designers, games and articles on the matter - food for thought!

ON BOARD GAMES:

- Shut Up & Sit Down is a Youtube channel of people reviewing board games of all kinds. They talk about lots of different genres, so videos about games you don't know can be a source for inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyRhIGDUKdIOw07Pd8pHxCw

- Jenn Sandercock makes edible games, board games that are made of food (and you'll have to eat the pieces to play it). Her book is on Kickstart right now, plus one of her games is available for free: https://ediblegames.com/

ON FOLK GAMES:

- The List of traditional chidren's games on Wikipedia is a nice list of games you may have played when you were young. It links to the games' pages so you can learn everything about those games, and hopefully get inspired: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_traditional_children%27s_games

- In particular the article on Tag is really interesting, detailing many variants and letting you imagine other new versions of this classic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_(game)

- Bernie DeKoven was a designer and play theorist, who worked for many years and collected many games for everybody. He also was the man who made me discover folk games, and thus who inspired me to launch this jam. Dive deep in his website and read everything you can: https://www.deepfun.com/funny-games/

ON ZINES:

- Thryn Henderson wrote the 'Let's Play Outside' zine, which is a compilation of small outdoors games inspired by existing videogames: https://twitter.com/Thairyn/status/968173641170112514

Don't hesitate to share your own things and stuff you find interesting, I'll add them to the list :)

Submitted(+1)

I've written a lot on my own experiences with paper prototyping for boardgames (which I need to condense sometime), and I would like to mention some materials that jammers may use. If you are making a game that's more free-form you may still be inspired by something on this list, but it's mostly catered for a tabletop experience

I write this list for those who want to know a good starting point, as sometimes you really just want to get going on game creation and focus on that. Sometimes it's worth the time to explore materials, but sometimes you would rather spend time on something like player dynamics or the perfect mechanic or multiple games. So below you will find my personal checklist:

# The usual suspects
Paper, including origami or colored papers, Post-its
– Cardboard (ask coffee shops or supermarkets for free cardboard)
– Paper glue (sometimes you need universal glue too)
– Masking and/or cellophane tape
– Scissors and a box cutter
– Cutting mat (self-healing, A4/A3 sized), a stack of newspapers kinda work if you're careful
– Drawing materials (pencils, markers, erasers, (metal) rulers, compass, protractors)

# Optional materials
Dice and/or standard card decks (I recommend at least two)
 Cardstock OR index cards OR blank business cards AND/OR Card sleeves
– X-acto knife (usually a box cutter works fine for free-form)
– Rotary (or Guillotine) paper cutter
– Spray adhesive
– Any inspirational materials (may be anything from magazines to videos)
– Creative materials (decorations, washers, poker chips, lego, other game pieces, clay, boxes, candy, string)