I’ve played games my whole life and thought I understood them. Then I tried to make one — a simple card game, nothing digital, just index cards and rules scribbled on a napkin — and immediately learned how wrong I was.
Games feel obvious when you’re playing them. The rules fade into the background and you just play. But from the designer’s side, every tiny rule is a decision. Does the player draw one card or two? Can they play on someone else’s turn? What happens when the deck runs out? Each answer creates a different game, and most of those games are bad.
The thing that surprised me: playtesting with two patient friends taught me more in one hour than a week of reading game design theory. You watch someone misunderstand your rules in real time, and you learn instantly what doesn’t work.
I’m going to document this process here — the prototypes, the terrible first drafts, the iterations. Not because I think I’ll make a great game (not yet, anyway), but because designing games teaches you systems thinking, and that skill applies everywhere.
But hear me: you will not learn game design by reading about game design. Grab index cards right now, write rules on them, and force a friend to play. Your first game will be bad. Make it anyway. That’s the entire secret.
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