One of the more common fears in a game jam is wondering if the game being made will be fun. It is also oftentimes hard to tell if an idea is good in practice without creating some kind of prototyping. The use of paper prototyping helps both test the feasibility of an idea and shows others in your group what you are going for in an idea at the same time. Below are lists of materials and websites that give advice on how to work with and quickly test ideas. This would fare especially well for those looking to make a gameboard or card game during the game jam.
MATERIALS
– Paper, including colored papers
– Post-its
– Cardboard
– Paper glue (sometimes you need universal glue too)
– Masking and/or cellophane tape
– Scissors and a box cutter
– Cutting mat (self-healing)
– Drawing materials (pencils, markers, erasers, metal rulers, compass)
– An inkjet/laser printer and scanner
– Paper, including colored papers
– Post-its
– Cardboard
– Paper glue (sometimes you need universal glue too)
– Masking and/or cellophane tape
– Scissors and a box cutter
– Cutting mat (self-healing)
– Drawing materials (pencils, markers, erasers, metal rulers, compass)
– An inkjet/laser printer and scanner
OPTIONAL MATERIALS
– Dice and/or (two+) standard card decks
– Cardstock
– Index cards OR blank business cards AND/OR Card sleeves
– X-acto knife
– Rotary (or Guillotine) paper cutter
– Spray adhesive
– Creative materials (decorations, washers, poker chips, lego, other game pieces, clay, boxes, candy)
– Any inspirational materials (may be anything from magazines to videos)
– Dice and/or (two+) standard card decks
– Cardstock
– Index cards OR blank business cards AND/OR Card sleeves
– X-acto knife
– Rotary (or Guillotine) paper cutter
– Spray adhesive
– Creative materials (decorations, washers, poker chips, lego, other game pieces, clay, boxes, candy)
– Any inspirational materials (may be anything from magazines to videos)
PRINTABLE TEMPLATE(S)
– bits on /r/paperjam (game pieces)
– piecepack.org (portable/game pieces)
– Herokuapp Cards game prototyper
– Hexagonal graph paper
– Isometric graph paper
– Tuckbox (and other boxes) generator
– bits on /r/paperjam (game pieces)
– piecepack.org (portable/game pieces)
– Herokuapp Cards game prototyper
– Hexagonal graph paper
– Isometric graph paper
– Tuckbox (and other boxes) generator
PROTOTYPING SOFTWARE
– Google Spreadsheet
– One or more of the following: Vector (Adobe Illustrator/Inkskape), Raster (Adobe Photoshop/GIMP/Krita), Page Layout (Adobe Indesign/Scribus)
– (Optional) yEd Graph Editor (for both graphs and diagrams)
– Google Spreadsheet
– One or more of the following: Vector (Adobe Illustrator/Inkskape), Raster (Adobe Photoshop/GIMP/Krita), Page Layout (Adobe Indesign/Scribus)
– (Optional) yEd Graph Editor (for both graphs and diagrams)
Post game jam
After the game jam is done and over with, you may take your game further with these resources and services.
FURTHER RESOURCES / PRODUCTION
– BoardGameGeek on Print and Play Games
– How to create a board game prototype
– BoardGameGeek on How to create professional game prototypes
– BoardGameGeek on Print and Play Games
– How to create a board game prototype
– BoardGameGeek on How to create professional game prototypes
FUTURE MATERIALS
– Lamination equipment
– Corner rounder
– Sticker paper