Nikki Valens has designed Mansions of Madness, Eldritch Horror, Legacy of Dragonholt, Quirky Circuits, Arkham Horror, Star Wars: Empire vs. Rebellion, and has previously worked for Fantasy Flight Games.
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How did being a designer for Fantasy Flight affect your design approach and other game designs?
The games I worked on for Fantasy Flight were pretty far from what I normally design as I’m not super into Lovecraft or heavy games. That was partially the reason I was assigned to the games; I liked making simple games and they wanted me to find a way to give the players a simpler experience and to make the games really easy to learn.
Legacy of Dragonholt and Quirky Circuits are closer to the design space where I want to be. Legacy of Dragonholt is close to reading a book where you can just sit down and play and you don’t have to invest a lot of time in the hobby to play and enjoy the game.
Rulebooks
Keep the rulebook in mind from the start. If you can make your game with the rules in mind, the game teaches you as it goes. You can have things like Starting Scenarios, where you teach one rule at a time so players can start learning as they go. When you learn in the moment, you remember more easily. The Starting Scenario is simple and the goal is to teach players how the game works and what the interactions between components are. You’re not asking the player to learn a whole new system, just small parts of one.
For example, in Legacy of Dragonholt, it says you don’t have to read the rules to play. You can simply figure out the game from the components; it’s that simple to get started.
Game Development
One interesting way to push your game forward is to question whether aspects of the game even need to be there. You should ask yourself if you can remove a specific type of component from your game; this can help you realize that you have aspects of your game that don’t add anything of value and therefore don’t need to be there.
When you know you have too much in your game, but you don’t know what to get rid of, you want to identify your core mechanism. What is the core gameplay loop, and what is the experience that you want players to have? Does each of the other aspects enhance the core mechanism? If they don’t enhance the main focus, you can make them mechanisms in a different game.
Components and Mechanisms
The components can really bring out different mechanisms. Depending on how the player handles the components, you can get to some really cool mechanics that you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to use.
For example, Tokyo Highway is a game based entirely on the components, and that’s what makes it different and memorable.
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Experience First Design
Nikki tends to design experiences first rather than mechanisms or themes. With experience-first design, you want to think about what kind of story you want your game to produce.
One way to add a mechanic to a game is to think about how you’re going to get the player started with the mechanism and how it helps create the experience you have in mind.
You’ll want to really pay attention to unexpected moments, emotions, and reactions that players have in your game. Think about how players experience your game. Whether it’s their first time or their 20th, you’ll still want the experience to be unique and include moments of surprise and tension.
Nikki tends to do a lot of research into the different feelings and experiences players have when she plays games, and she doesn’t usually play for fun. She’ll also only play most games a handful of times, to figure out all the different aspects of them before moving on to the next one.
Playtesting
When you’re playtesting, you want to constantly watch to see how other players react to themes or emotions, as well as when they have that dawning moment: the moment they discover their strategy. Try to be fully aware of how the players react to one another’s actions and strategies. Discovering how and why players do the things they do is incredibly valuable!
It can be hard to get players to tell you what they’re feeling while playing, but you can ask things like: At this certain point in the game, you played this card. What were you thinking? What was your thought process? What was your strategy? Giving details and context to the point you want to know about is helpful, especially if you see a reaction you’re not expecting. If you’re surprised by any actions or choices during a playtest, you should immediately make a note of it so you can ask about it later.
Even if you think you know how the players are feeling, you should still ask them how they feel. You should also phrase your questions in a more open fashion. For instance, try asking, “How did you feel about this card combination?” instead of, “Did you feel angry when this happened?” Asking questions in the right manner can help a player think of the things they might not have thought about during the game, which can lead to valuable feedback.
You should also keep track of every time a player is confused or makes a mistake, so you can have a record of how often it happens. If there’s something that players consistently get wrong, you don’t want to fight human nature. Ask yourself if the mechanism can work the way people assume it will. Working with human nature instead of against it not only makes it more likely rules will be followed, but it will also make learning and remembering the rules easier.
Rules
Different players learn rules in different ways. For example, Nikki wouldn’t understand rules if you explained them to her, but she would if she read the rules herself. Furthermore, if a rules explanation takes too long, she’ll simply try to figure out the game herself without finishing the rules.
When you’re blind playtesting, you’ll notice differences in the way that players learn and process information. Keep a list of all the different ways players explain the rules. You’ll be able to come back to this list every time you make a set of rules, which will make it a lot easier for the people learning from your rules, which also makes it easier on yourself by potentially saving time on blind playtesting future projects.
Accessibility Tips
When you’re trying to make your game accessible, there are a lot of different things you can look for and take into consideration:
- Does your game play well for colorblindness? Do you pair all of your colors with icons, so they can be differentiated?
- How much reading do new players have to do before they can start getting to the fun part? How much reading is there in the game overall? If players have anything that hinders their reading ability, it can be frustrating to have a ton of text to read.
- Are you using dyslexia-friendly fonts and an appropriate amount of space for your text, including space between rows and columns? This can make it much easier to process information. Having white space in the rules can also make them less intimidating and easier to read. After all, learning a game can be challenging enough without the added struggle of a confusing font, squinting, or straining to see your words.
- Are you keeping a list of all the accessibility lessons you’re learning? If you keep a list of things to do and aspects to check, you’ll always have something to quickly make sure your game is at least somewhat accessible. The list of lessons will help you move forward as a designer and is easy to share with others.
Last Thoughts
As a designer, it’s always good to focus on appealing to and growing your audience. Everyone benefits from playing new designs, and bringing new people into the hobby is beneficial to us as designers, players, and as a community.
You can follow Nikki on the following:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/valens116
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