Truth Hurts

The most helpful feedback I’ve received on one of my designs was in Berlin. And it was harsh.

I was in Germany and had connected with a designer named Jeffrey Allers who lived there. He invited me to his designer group which was full of published German designers, many of whom were established household names. The game I brought was the first that I had designed, and I had been working on it for about a year at that point. I had played it with a few board game hobbyists back home, but for the most part it had been playtested exclusively by my friends and family. I had also pitched the game to a handful of publishers. Their quick feedback told me I needed to keep working on it, while still allowing me to maintain the illusion that the game was already pretty good.

At that playtest in Berlin, I experienced the biting reality of German honesty. The designers who playtested it completely tore my illusions down as their criticism was insightful and incredibly well-informed. It was also honest and constructive. They opened my eyes to very real flaws of my design and completely shifted my perspective on its overall quality. Thankfully I was in a place to hear that feedback and receive it, understanding the level of expertise of the people at the table. Taking their feedback to heart, I took to refining my game and making changes, but ultimately decided to scrap the project altogether since I struggled to find solutions to the issues they brought to light. While it was sad to let that game go, I was eternally grateful for their honesty and their criticism.

When I give feedback to designers about their games, I always have this experience in the back of my mind. It’s not helpful to tell designers things that they want to hear. It feels good to have someone validate your creative output and to tell you that your baby is pretty, but it doesn’t make your game better. While I always approach feedback with caring and kindness, the most kind thing I can do for a designer is tell them the truth. And sometimes the truth hurts. The more you design, the more you will realize that criticism is the most important tool for making your game better. The more welcoming you can be to that criticism, the better your games will become. So good luck out there.

#boardgames #boardgamedesign #gamedesig

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