In this video I list ten untouchable mechanisms and features. Designers do not put this outdated stuff in your games. You do want your players to have a GOOD time, right?

I’m not here to criticise and condemn older games. These were the building blocks from which our wonderful, extraordinary, rich ecosystem of games evolved. Designers of the past deserve our respect. But that’s not to say they didn’t make mistakes.



The Adam in Wales: Board Game Designer Journal is available worldwide, via Amazon's print on demand service.

You can also purchase a downloadable PDF of the journal from Drive Thru RPG a the following link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...

To purchase on Amazon, use the links below.
IF NOT LISTED BELOW, search on your local Amazon for Adam in Wales: Board Game Designer Journal.

UK: https://amzn.eu/d/6HWPjVN
USA: https://a.co/d/63DoQmZ
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The journal provides a multitude of reflective tools to help you develop as a tabletop game designer. This is not a playtesting journal. That is to say, the journal is not focused on one specific game or project. It is focused on you. You are the project.

The journal is broken down into logs, with prompts to guide your reflections.

You will be guided to reflect on:
Your own definition of success
Your gaming preferences and those of the market
Games you have played and what you learned from them
The people who support you in game design
How you support other designers
Your design ethos
Your goals and ambitions

The journal contains a selection of tools to help you analyse your prototypes in development.

The Hook Generator to help you create concepts which will catch attention
The DARE Model to help you prioritise your ideas
The Ladder Model to help you determine how engaging your game is
The Idea : Execution Matrix to help you determine how likely your game is to achieve commercial success
Player Journey Maps to help you identify the pain points in your games

These tools are all based off of models and matrices developed and discussed on the Adam in Wales Youtube Channel. If you would like more information about any of these topics, there is a huge amount of information within that channel.


0:00 Introduction
2:48 Game Designer Journal
4:49 Player Agency
13:02 Event Decks
16:45 Exact Rolls
18:12 Move Backwards
19:41 Swap Places
21:09 Miss a Turn
23:07 Runaway Leaders
25:56 Reference Tables
28:25 Limited Player Count
29:38 Component Quality
31:28 Roll and Move
32:49 Take That
33:50 Memory
34:52 Player Elimination