Design Process

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Design Process

I don't have a fixed design process. Quite the contrary, I believe that starting from the same beginning will frequently lead to the same end. Finding new ways of working often leads to innovative designs. Of course, there are always the basic ingredients of game mechanics, game materials, and the theme or the world. These are good anchor points and in a balanced design these dimensions will blend together nicely and support each other. Furthermore, there are some fundamental design questions about the player's point of view: Who am I? What am I trying to achieve? What are my main choices? How do I win?

In the early design stages I often close my eyes and look into new worlds, new systems, and new materials, searching for exciting game play. I try to develop an understanding of what I want to feel when I play the game: the thrill, the fun, the choices, the challenges. Clearly, for the Lord of the Rings Board Game I needed to develop a deep understanding of Tolkien's world, the underlying themes, and the motivations of the characters. This was not achievable by merely reading the book itself. I also needed to know what excited the fans, and what was at the center of their discussions. Dave Farquhar, a friend and regular playtester, was a great fan of Tolkien. We spent countless hours going through the story page by page, discussing its relevance for the game. Clearly I could not reflect much of the detail of the books. But more important was the feeling of the world. The true focus of the book was not the fighting, but more personal themes-the development of each character's sense of self as they attempt to overcome adversity.

The story starts with the hobbits leaving their home to venture into unknown lands. I decided that each player would represent a hobbit, aided by the good characters and peoples in Middle Earth. Of course their only chance was to cooperate. To do Tolkien's masterpiece justice, the players would have to play together.This structure would make the game design very unusual. But the rules could not simply demand cooperative play: the game system had to intrinsically motivate this type of play. Therefore, I embedded the hobbits' mutual foe, Sauron, into the game system itself. Even the most competitive players would soon realize that the game system threw so many dangers at the players that they would naturally have to support each other to maintain a strong front against their common enemy.

In contrast to a book, a game must be replayable many times, giving fresh excitement each time. As the storyline would already be known to many of the players but not all of them, the game would have to work and play well irrespective of the players' knowledge of Tolkien's world. Another important consideration was the physical appearance of the game and its graphical presentation. The Lord of the Rings is full of atmosphere, and has long been a source of inspiration for beautiful illustrations. John Howe, a famous Tolkien artist, was signed up to do the artwork, and I wanted to give him plenty of opportunities to enrich the game and excite the Tolkien fans with powerful visuals. Furthermore, the target retail price and the square box shape would influence the components I could use.