A Maker Approach to Games: Pijin, Portland Makerfaire 2014
description
Transcript of A Maker Approach to Games: Pijin, Portland Makerfaire 2014
A Maker-Approach to Creating and Manufacturing
Tabletop (Word) Games
TRAVIS FELDMAN!OMSI - Portland Mini-Maker Faire!
September 14, 2014
THE PROCESS OF MAKING PIJIN:
• DEVELOPED IN 12 MONTHS!
!
• THREE MAJOR ITERATIONS!
GUIDING IDEAS:
1. YOUR EXPERIENCE MATTERS - “Spell What You Hear”!
!2. THERE ARE NO “EXPERTS” - No Official or External
Word Lists - Players Assess Each Move as a Group!!3. NO CHEAP STUFF - Use Good Quality, Aesthetically
Pleasing Materials for Game Pieces (Bamboo)!!4. MODULAR SYSTEM - Encourage and Build into
Game Openness, Variants & Expansions
As I developed!the game, I
learned new things, including creative ways of working
rapidly with the IPA chart.
I took a maker’s or hacker’s
approach:! !
learn what is needed as it is needed & creatively assimilate
found materials. !
!For instance, I
made this !Table of
Elements.
We spent months playtesting. Wine, it turns out, often improves the experience of phonetic spelling.
By January 2014, I had arrived at a “working prototype”!complete gameset, with graphics and branding!
In November and December 2013, I used TaoBao, Alibaba, ThomasNet, Amazon and Google searches to find different suppliers for each part of the game.!
!!
By January I had explored many manufacturing options, I procured
estimates for the costs of making the game using several different methods or
manufacturers. !!!
At the end of January, I shot tons of photos, made a video, and was ready to
raise the funds needed to make the game.
November
December
January
February
Sales at retail game and hobby stores have risen 15-20% for each of the last three years
(ICV2.COM)
Amazon says board game sales increased by double digits from 2012 to 2013*
On Kickstarter, the amount raised for board game projects surpassed the amount raised for video games last year, !
$52.1 million to $45.3 million **NYTimes, May 6, 2014
THE GROWING BOARD GAMES MARKET:
So… on February 10, I launched on Kickstarter -!Pijin: The Spelling Game of the Spoken Word
Kickstarter backers were !interested in many facets!of the game, including!the materials and construction!of the grab bag.
One project Update included close-up!photos of the bag…
…and this “How To”
description for making a
grab bag from
recycled materials.
I also shared details of tile distribution,
and algorithms
used for creating the 144 unique,
double-sided tiles.
Tiles: Made in China!!
Cards: Made in India!!
Everything Else: Made in USA
THE KICKSTARTER WAS SUCCESSFUL.! !
NEXT I ORDERED!FROM MANUFACTURERS!AROUND THE WORLD…
When the manufactured
parts of the game arrived, !
about two months after orders were
placed, !I asked friends
to help me assemble and
box games!for shipment -!one night in June, we put together 200 game sets !
TOWER OF BABEL!!!
200 PIJIN GAMES!READY TO SHIP
MY APPROACH TO MAKING!PIJIN!WAS!
!
PROBLEM BASED!COLLABORATIVE!
DEMOCRATIC!MULTI-DISCIPLINARY
when you…LEARN
THINK DO
A DESIGNER!!
A PROGRAMMER!!
A MARKETER!!
AN ENTREPRENEUR
MANUFACTURING!IS HIGHLY EXPLORATORY!
!!
BE PREPARED!TO EXPAND YOUR AWARENESS, !
THINK LIKE:
SO WHAT’S NEXT?
AS FOR PIJIN… !!
REWARDS HAVE SHIPPED,!!
PRE-ORDERS FULFILLED,
PIJIN ON AMAZON
PIJIN IN CLASSROOMS
LET’S PLAY!