Kill Your Darling Game Idea

So you’re asking for advice about your game idea.

I’m not sure where you are in your journey, but let’s pump the brakes for a quick reality check.

Are you fired up? The sort of fired up that happens when you’ve stayed up too late with infomercials. You know the pitch: build multiple streams of income, change your life, start now with our futures trading kit. The sparkle often comes in hot, before the work has had time to cool it down.

At one time I’d have asked you to read Jamey Stegmaier’s post on the worthlessness of your idea. It is a good post, but doesn’t go far enough.

You might need the real gut punch Daniel Piechnick delivers in his board games design course. I sit his industry-tailored advice along side Put Your Dream to the Test where John Maxwell effectively asks: how serious are you? You cash out that answer in the only currency that matters: time. Both are asking you to count the cost.

That is where you will maybe falter. You don’t believe in quick paths to success. You don’t overvalue ideas. You don’t think you can swoop in with the spark of a great product, and skip the sweat.

Do you?

Breathing life into a game — and then making it great — is a marathon.

Piechnick makes that plain. Dozens of playtests. Sometimes a hundred or more. Lots of breaking. Lots of fixing. Lots of trimming. Lots of sitting in the wreckage of a clever idea and finding out that it could not survive contact with players.

If all you have is one idea, it is not good enough. It’s not the idea. It’s you. Almost any idea can fly. You have not yet put in the reps to develop your craft.

If your BGG account is freshly minted, you’re not ready.

If you can’t say why modern games are better than the ones grandma played, you’re not ready.

If you’re not playing dozens of board games, you’re not ready.

If you’re thinking of taking it to Kickstarter, you’re not ready.

You have not counted the cost.

You’re. Not. Ready.

Are you preparing for a marathon? Because if you’re not seeing it that way, you need to. No one will make your game for you.

The wise course: read Piechnick’s e-book. Ask yourself if you’re ready to put in the reps he has. If his guide helps (as much as I think it will) send him a thank you note for telling you exactly what you needed to hear. I mean that. He’s so spot on, you’ll owe him.