I love a challenge. If you don’t already know, I’m currently participating in a game design challenge where every single day of 2021 I will post a new game design idea that I’ve come up with. As of the writing of this post, I’m at…. 143 for the year so I’m about 12 ahead of my posting schedule. So, I love a challenge. It keeps me motivated and keeps me working on things. So, when I saw the small box challenge from The Game Crafter and Small Furry Games, I decided I needed to do it.
If you don’t know about The Game Crafter, I’m a fan. Basically, they sell components BUT they also can put together an entire game for you. You upload the components list and the art and they make a game for you. It’s super cool. And VERY REGULARLY they run contests, sponsored by game companies. Typically, it’s an opportunity for small game companies to find games that they might want to publish. You can win cool prizes but also an opportunity to potentially have your game developed and published…which is pretty cool.
So, what exactly is the small box challenge? Well, for starters it’s a game that comes in a small box. That seems pretty obvious. Your entire game must fit into what they call the “small stout box” which is basically a 4”X6” box that’s 2.25” box. Your entire game needs to fit into that box. Your rules. Your pieces. EVERYTHING… has to fit into the box.
I started with the concept of the physical aspects of the game rather than theme or mechanics. Arguably, what I came up with was semi-mechanic driven but it was more component driven. One of the things that I really hate about games is when you take all the stuff out of the box….and then you’ve got to figure out what the heck to do with the box. So with this game, I decided that in addition to designing for inside the box, I wanted to build AROUND the box. That’s where I started.
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