Creating board games only requires some time, maybe some basic theories of board game design and a little material.
Most of this material can be made out scrap : take an old piece of cardboard and you have a board, draw some rectangles on a sheet of paper then cut it : you have cards… Most of the time, prototyping doesn’t require good-looking or fancy material, as you may throw away half of your creation to improve it anyway.
Ot at least in theory. There’s still a couple of problems :
– Some material, such as hourglasses and dices, can’t be easily made from scrap;
– Seeing some material can improve creativity by “triggering” something in one’s mind (ohh, I could use THAT !).
Fortunately, several companies are dedicated to create board game material, which is very handy for designers… and people animating board games creation workshops ! One of them is Tout pour le jeu, which means “Everything for games” in French. Based in the east of France, this company was kind enough to accept a simple partnership :
* They give me a hell lot of material I will carry during my trip
* In exchange, I allow people to discover their actually awesome selection of various pawns, dices, bags, hourglasses etc… via their official website or flyers I’ll give during my journey.
As for the carriage of this material, I’ll have a small pack in my bag during my trip, but most material will be sent from Frence by my greatest help : my mother ! 🙂
Ludi Vojago 