Continuing my reviews of research I have just finished the classic “Kobold Guide to Board Game Design
” and can highly recommend it as a good overview of board game design advice. It is a collection of essays more than an end-to-end guide, so some essays will hold more relevance with you than others. However I picked up enough nuggets of advice to make it a worthwhile purchase and have a long list of ‘todos. it includes essays from some stalwarts of the industry such as Richard Garfield and Steve Jackson (who created large parts of my childhood) and is divided into sections of the design process. One of the encouraging outcomes of reading the book was realising that I am currently on track and already doing a lot of what was recommended, but also realised I have a long way to go yet!
Secondly, I watched Robert Cringley’s classic Triumph of the Nerds
documentary. This came out in the 90s and was largely a recap of the computer industry from the mid 70s to early 90s, perfect research! It has a cheesy delivery, but once you get beyond that Cringley has some incredible guests and interviewees from the era (Bill Gates and Steve Jobs two name but two). There were some fascinating stories and insights, some of which I had never heard, and it gave me a great feeling for the era. Moving beyond the relevance to Chip Shop, what fascinated me more is that it finishes in 1995 and within a few years the scene had changed yet again, especially with the return of Steve Jobs to Apple. This is not unusual, Pirates of Silicon Valley
ends at the same time and in the same situation.
