Julio Nazario goes really in depth on how to rapidly make great games, how to get inspired and stay inspired, and how to make games with great table presence and unique components!
Watch the live chat below:
Places to get components:
- Etsy is a great place to get components, like laser cut wood items.
- Use things you have in a different way. For example, you can take plastic pawns and make them into something you fit the top into and now it’s an entirely different component.
- 20×30 Poster Board from the Dollar Tree gets you a lot of poster board for the cost that you can use for boards, player screens, and more.
- 3D Printers: Julio has the Ender 3 pro.
- Cardboard is cheap and you can get it from Amazon boxes. You can make a lot of different components out of cardboard.
Contest Suggestions
You can find a lot of contests in the BGG design contest forum. Go there and read all the posts and try to enter the contests that appeal to your strengths.
Contests are great because they bring a due date, which pushes you to be inspired and iterate on the deadline.
Some Regular Contests
- Korea Board Game Design Contest
- HABA Design Contest
- Button Shy Design Contest
Components to Revisit: magnetic components and translucent components.
Staying Motivated
Focus on learning and bettering yourself and making things faster. There’s always something to learn on youtube, like Nandeck or Microsoft Publisher. There’s a 4 part series on Nandeck where each is less than 30 minutes that you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYe95_3Vv4m6jwe4HRdnDs8wcWfbazF5o
Codesigners are really a great way to be motivated. Being accountable to someone pushes you to get things done on time.
Keeping All Your Games Straight
Julio has a minor in project management so this comes easy to him.
- Have a spreadsheet of projects which is color coated by status. If you send any email, update the spreadsheet. Keeping the spreadsheet up to date seems like it takes a lot of time, but it saves time by keeping up to date.
- Use calendar to keep due dates in mind.
Final Tips
- Simplicity is key.
- Try to keep games language independent; it comes to you easy if you keep at it.
- The Cardboard Edison Compendium is great for finding publishers to pitch your games to.
- Don’t get stressed about working on lots of games, do what’s fun and the fun will keep you motivated.
- The Otter dictation app is fantastic for recording playtests.
You can find out more about Julio here:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Junazaru
- Holi Festival of Colors Preorder: https://floodgate.games/products/holi
- CTRL Game: https://pandasaurusgames.com/products/ctrl
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