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Devs Answer: What board games should you study?

Board games can be an inspiration for good game design. We asked developers to recommend some with valuable design lessons.

Bryant Francis, Senior Editor

March 4, 2016

1 Min Read
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Tabletop games are booming right now—so much so that you’re just as likely to see a board game adaptation of your favorite video game as you are of a popular TV show. There’s a big business analysis to be had about the modern board game surge combined with Kickstarter and crowdfunding, but more importantly, there’s some incredible design innovation taking place in the genre right now. 

While paper prototyping and other tabletop inspirations are as old as video games themselves, we wanted to hear from our readers what board games and tabletop games they thought were relevant for designers right now. So if you’re in need of some interesting systems, or want a bare-bones hard look at how simple games can build layered complexity, here’s a list of games you might want to gather some friends for.

Remember, if you're interested in participating in these conversations in the future, make sure to follow @Gamasutra on Twitter. The questions usually go out on Fridays in the late morning, Pacific time, alongside Tweets of our regular news, blogs, and original writing. 

About the Author

Bryant Francis

Senior Editor, GameDeveloper.com

Bryant Francis is a writer, journalist, and narrative designer based in Boston, MA. He currently writes for Game Developer, a leading B2B publication for the video game industry. His credits include Proxy Studios' upcoming 4X strategy game Zephon and Amplitude Studio's 2017 game Endless Space 2.

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