New here? Welcome to Boring Box Games! My name is Dan, and this is the beginning of my tabletop board game design adventures. Through this blog, I want to document my journey and some of the lessons I learn along the way. 

From design to development, prototyping to playtesting, ideation to realisation, I am so excited to become part of a really amazing tabletop gaming community.

Tabletop games in development

I currently have three board games in developmentAs I post new stuff over time, it will be helpful to have an elevator pitch for each here that I can link to, as I will no doubt be referring to them a lot.

Festival Season gives you 26 weeks (turns) to curate a writers festival. Players need to book top tier authors for their festival (before other festivals poach them!), rent venues to host their events, and set up festival activations, like bookshops, poetry performances, and writing workshops to build that festival atmosphere. And of course, in the Arts, it’s all about reputation – the festival with the most Credibility when the festival season launches wins the game.

In Rewilding, players each have a map of a wilderness area. Maps feature different biomes (tropical, taiga, tundra, desert, and more), each with their own unique challenges and opportunities. Players work to accrue a balance of Tourism and Science points by developing infrastructure across their maps. The first to reach enough points in both categories to be declared a World Area of Natural Significance wins the game. 

On The Market gives players the chance to construct the plans for a new house build. You’ll be building with potential buyers in mind – from families to retirees, young couples, FIFO workers, work from home-rs, university students, and more. A tile placement game, you will be collecting elements of the blueprints to fit into your available block to build. When you go on the market, potential buyers will be coming to your open house. But be warned – they are all VERY picky, and know exactly what they do and don’t want in the house they buy!

Prototype pieces for Festival Season:

Why blog the board game design process?

I want to document this for a couple of reasons. First, it keeps me accountable to myself to make regular progress. I am also passionate about knowledge-sharing and teaching. There are so many experienced people in this space I have learned from already, and want to make sure I have something to give back to the next designer.

If you want to join me on the journey, please do leave your details in the form below! I expect to have a new post every couple of weeks.

While you’re here, check out Puzzled: A History of Jigsaw Puzzles – it is not your typical history book.