Developing my Print and Play game – design stage

As a kid, I loved minigames. Nitrome’s Sandman, Omar El Sawi’s Plantworld, anything by Ferry Halim, Warioware… they were like tiny portals into a hundred colourful universes, and they also got me excited about digital art for the first time. Nowadays, I play lots more board games than video games. But I still feel nostalgic about the charm and novelty that came with the minigame format. That’s where the idea for Card Bordz came from. I wanted to blend the minigame experience with a tabletop game. The result: a series of minigames on card-sized boards that can each be played in just a minute or two. The game is a hybrid — half board game, half card game. It is for two players, and all you need is a deck of ‘Card Bordz’, two counters, and two six-sided dice.

I am currently in the initial design stage of the game. About twenty cards have been drafted, and I have done artwork for eight. I am planning to release these first eight cards as a Print and Play “Pilot Pack” on itch.io in the next few weeks, after some play testing with friends and family. After releasing this first pack online, I’ll make further improvements, and develop more packs of Card Bordz minigames.

I’m documenting the process of designing and making Card Bordz so hopefully someone feels inspired to make their own game, or at least try out this one. This is the first game I have ever made, and although I have some design experience, I am a complete beginner to this hobby. I am basically making it up as I go along.

I started with some very rough sketches — literally, one-minute doodles. I played through about twenty of these with my friends, and I chose the eight that worked best to make into full cards. You can see an example below. I am debating whether to call this one “Dragon Roll” or “Scale Board”.

Stay tuned for more progress blogs over the next couple of days. I’m looking forward to making this project a reality and sharing it with other minigame enthusiasts!