iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Just popping in to mention that the new Affinity update now lets you import 3D models and rotate them directly in your document, and that's not even the best new feature for board games. They added scripting. 🎲✂️ My Affinity for board games article already needs an update: rossongames.com/affinity

A 3D render of a player board flipping over to show an antagonist board on the other side. At the bottom it reads "A 3D model, exported from Blender, imported in Affinity." There is a title Psykids and a QR code to PsykidsBoardGame.com

3120

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I originally built a 3D model of Psykids for our setup instructions, but playtester feedback told us that this higher effort image was worse for understanding, so we scraped it. For most board games, and especially medium-heavy, it seems like a top-down 2D image for setup is best. 🎲✂️

Two side-by-side images of the board game Psykids from different versions of a setup section. The left is a 3D model of the game, while the right is a flat, top-down image. There is a QR code to PsykidsBoardGame.com, and text that reads "I made the setup image on the left in Blender, but playtesters said they couldn't make out find details, so we switched to the top-down setup image on the right."

2120

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

#BoardGameDesign math fact. A tie-breaker is worth 1/2 of whatever value it's breaking. So, if holding a token wins you the game if you're tied for victory points, that token is worth 1/2 of a victory point. If I have 1 more point than you, I win; if we have the same number of points, you win.

110

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

"A complex board games is just nine simple boards games." Damn, that goes hard. 🎲✂️

280

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

🎲 ✂️ In case you haven't seen it, the design diary of Zendo is incredible. www.koryheath.com/zendo/design... It's told like a story, but it still goes deep into the thought process of designing it. I highly recommend it. #BoardgameDesign

koryheath.com

Zendo—Design History | Kory Heath

260

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

✂️🎲 I use Affinity for all my rulebooks and components, and I really like it. It's especially nice using free software to work on a co-design, since I wasn't forcing my co-designer to buy anything. I wrote an article specific to board games if others want to try it out. rossongames.com/affinity

rossongames.com

Affinity for Board Games

How to use Affinity Studio to design components and write rulebooks for board game prototypes.

25120

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

One thing I've learned about board game design is that you don't always have to solve problems immediately. The best solutions are those that elegantly solve multiple problems, but to do this, you have to allow problems to collect for a bit. If the solution isn't obvious, stew on it. 🎲✂️

2232

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

🎲✂️ I've noticed that "simplifying" a board game design often leads to the game becoming deeper and more strategic for the players. RA is an auction game where I only have 3 tokens to bid at any one time, but it allows me to think "if I bid X, here's exactly what my opponents can respond with."

1111

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

I enjoy reading prototype 🎲✂️ rule books, but not when the designer hasn't followed basic best practices with their text. I made a checklist of 6 major rules for legible text here: rossongames.com/text These rules are easy to follow and make a huge difference for your play testers. #BoardGameDesign

rossongames.com

Board Game Text

Basic typesetting in board games.

1123

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

One of the things that makes Skull so fun is that higher bets prompt even higher bets. Whenever a person bets, it makes their coasters seem safer, which then increases the size of a reasonable next bet. The higher their bet, the stronger the indication that their coasters are safe. #boardgamedesign

130

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

What lesser known free or nearly free methods are there to market a board game? 🎲✂️ So far I have: Reddit give away, Reddit crowdfunding games launching this week, BGG crowdfunding countdown, Kickstarter projects we love, TTGDA post (for members), BMG post (for users), post about it in general.

243

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

Expedition 33 shares a foundational principle with modern board games, and it's one of my favorite things about it. In virtually every board game I've played, something pushes the players to perform a different action from turn to turn to keep the game interesting. 🎲✂️ 🧵(1/5)

2102

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

I studied a bunch of icons from various published board games while preparing a rule book for Cardboard Edison, with a particular focus on Ian O'Toole. For those who come after, this article captures what I learned 🎲✂️ rossongames.com/icons #BoardGameDesign

rossongames.com

Board Game Icons

Tips on designing board game icons.

44412

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Galactic Cruise shares a design principle with Concordia in that there is almost no "upkeep" in the game. The silo and agenda cards are both restored by player actions, such that the game rarely has to stop to reset anything. It's a nice feature that I love to see whenever it works for a game. 🎲✂️

0110

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

In most games, Analysis Paralysis increases exponentially as you give the player more actions on their turn. If instead of 2 actions in Pax Pamir, I had 4, my turns wouldn't take twice as long; they'd probably take 3+ times as long. This all depends on how integrated the actions are, however. 🎲✂️

050

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Trading in competitive games is awkward, because theoretically some player is always getting a worse deal. The games that make trading work tend to "sweeten the pot" somehow, like how Zoo Vadis gives you 1 free laurel for helping an opponent out with a vote (on top of whatever they give you for it).

480

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

There's a point where a board game prototype becomes "fun enough" that play testing it is not a burden or a favor; it's just playing a fun but incomplete game. I think getting to that point should probably be the initial goal of #BoardGameDesign, well before content, balance, or aesthetics. 🎲✂️

2203

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

This is the single most valuable thing I've learned about #BoardGameDesign so far, and it's not even close. When a player has to make a choice in a strategy game, the "best" option should depend on the state of the rest of the game. I wrote about this more at rossongames.com/choices 🎲✂️

rossongames.com

The Structure of Player Choices.

How the state of the game should affect the value of the player's options.

1110

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

#boardgamedesign If you have an Upkeep phase that should happen in-between rounds, put it at the end of the round, not the start. I read rulebooks that put it at the start, then say "Skip this phase on the first round." If it's supposed to go in-between, present it as going after the round.

160

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

🎲✂️ I've noticed that whenever a game really wants me to try and guess what another player has or has selected, the game will only give players 5 or fewer things to pick from: * Coup: 5 characters to have * Planet X: 4 theory tokens to place * Race for the Galaxy: 5 phases to pick

470

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Whenever I start to get carried away with a theme idea I like to remind myself that one of the most popular board games is a racing game where the hook is that you have to manage your engine temperature. 🎲✂️ #boardgamedesign

1190

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

A little while back I posted a picture of my spray painted custom dice. This is my process for making them, if anyone wanted to avoid a lot of the trial and error. rossongames.com/custom-dice #BoardgameDesign

rossongames.com

Making Custom Dice (and other pieces)

My guide to building custom dice.

350

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Spirit Island is one of my favorite games, and what impresses me the most is how many distinct player characters it supports. I've spent a lot of time figuring out how it does this, and wrote it all down in an article. rossongames.com/spirit-islan... 🎲✂️ #boardgamedesign #boardgames

rossongames.com

How Spirit Island supports so many spirits.

Some of the reasons why Spirit Island can have so many player characters to choose from.

1205

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

I noticed a really common pattern in co-op board games where players have to split their time between urgent tasks—which prevent a loss—and important tasks—which win the game. I wrote more about it in an article. 🎲 ✂️ #boardgamedesign #boardgames rossongames.com/urgent-impor...

rossongames.com

Urgent & Important Tasks in Coop Games

The structure of many cooperative board games.

2163

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

🎲 ✂️ Does anyone know of a spray finish for chipboard game boards that will make cards slide well on it. Basically the exact same thing as published board games, where the game boards don't have too much friction. I have mod podge but I suspect there might be something closer.

000

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

Invented state is a useful board game mechanic to keep in the back pocket. It usually involves tokens placed on a card, but it goes: * You may like this post. * A like on this post is a Demeanor Charge. * You may spend the Demeanor Charge from this post to disappoint Ross 😕. #BoardGameDesign 🎲✂️

160

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

🎲✂️ I tried every method for producing custom dice that I could think of—hand drawn stickers, printer stickers, a label maker, iron on paper—but the best method by far has been spray painting with a silicone stencil. It was faster and produced much better results. I'll have to post my full process.

A red die with spray painted red number faces and an X face.

4332

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Something I've noticed about "positive" player interactions is that they tend to not invalidate a player's plan for a turn, which can reduce downtime. If someone takes my resources, my plan might become impossible, but if I gain a resource, that can't happen. #boardgames #boardgamedesign 🎲✂️🧵

140

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

How do you organize your icons so that they're synced across all of your #boardgamedesign assets? I use Affinity and I've cycled through separate documents linked, one document w/ symbols, one document linked, and now I'm considering artboards. It's a mess. 🎲✂️ #boardgames

330

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

I just noticed something weird. A hand of cards is easier to pick up than a single card, and I don't fully understand why. If I have a card on the table, it's easier for me to drop a stack of cards on it and to pick those up than it is to just pick up the one card on its own. 🎲✂️

120

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

I think a lot of new designers like myself would benefit from knowing about the Written Tone Problem—a term I just made up for a well documented effect. We tend to read messages in the harshest tone possible, even if the writer was intending the kindest tone possible. 🎲✂️ #boardgamedesign 🧵 (1/4)

3101

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

🎲✂️ How do you do task tracking? As in, if you find out that you need to make a change to your prototype before the next play test, how do you document that and mark it as completed?

440

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

🎲✂️ I've noticed other #boardgamedesign 's occasionally have some ambiguous characters, like 1, I, or l being indistinguishable. The easiest way to ensure this doesn't happen is to default to the Atkinson's Hyperlegible Next font, which I always start with. www.brailleinstitute.org/freefont/

3236

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

I've found that Hidden Rolls with Secret Info are a great way to keep from having one player be the Judge in your 🎲✂️. For example, Zendo (which I adore) has one player be the Master, who doesn't compete. Often times, however, you can replace a master with some sort of Imposter, like in Fake Artist.

060

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

When considering 🎲✂️ mechanics my mind keeps wondering back to the idea of a deck and tableau builder where your deck is the antagonist and your tableau is how you're dealing with it. Like the deck is a mutating virus and your tableau is your resources to deal with each upcoming hand from the deck.

3170

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

A lot of 🎲✂️ add resource upkeep before any player actions, like drawing cards or collecting income. A lot of published board games, however, use player actions instead—like how in Concordia there's a collect resources action, or in Wingspan there's a draw cards action—which eliminates this admin.

080

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

I've noticed that a lot of games tune the player's "starting resources" to maximize the amount of viable first turn moves. If a player can choose between gaining money or spending money on their first turn, then the players is often given just enough money to make both options reasonable. 🎲✂️

3100

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

What useful things do you have near you while prototyping or brainstorming board games? 🎲✂️ On my desk I have digital calipers, a thing called a Heckadeck, regular decks, dice, little wood cubes, pawns, and of course little scraps of paper, index cards, and blank business cards.

550

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

Does anyone else like custom d6s as much as I do? With custom faces, you can lower the expected output of rolls, which keeps numbers like health pools small, and if they're also color-coded with at least one unique face, you can use skeuomorphic icons to represent them, reducing terminology. 🎲✂️

000

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

🎲✂️ There needs to be a term for linear functions with a negative y-intercept, like 1, 3, 5, 7, or just 0, 1, 2, 3. Like Triangle Numbers, their first "tick" is less impactful than every follow up, (dis)incentivizing specialization, but with a simpler scale. My pitch is "Subnaught Ascenders".

020

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

I don't know who else finds this helpful but game state in 🎲 ✂️ board games is almost always tracked using the position or orientation of different components. Whenever someone asks "how do players track X" the answer is almost always to place a certain component somewhere or turn it some direction.

060

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

A lot of my early 🎲 ✂️ game balance is just based on making sure no player option is objectively better than another. Like "this option does the same thing, the same amount, but is cheaper." There always has to be some trade off, otherwise I already know the weaker option might as well not exist.

090

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

It's unreal to me how often I trust the "AI result" from Google despite knowing how bad it is. When I Google a subject I understand it seems to say something wrong about 50% of the time, but when I'm not familiar with the subject I still might accept its response as fact without thinking about it.

020

Reposted by Ross Esmond

James Firnhaber 🔜 Unpub2025 @jamesfirnhaber.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

I'm constantly asking myself "Can I combine these two things into one?". This thinking can be applied to systems, resources, actions, anything. My biggest breakthroughs often come from looking for ways to solve two problems with a single change.

151

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I'm curious how many board game designers 🎲✂️ have tips that they would consider "design theory" and what that term even means to them. Does anyone have any design theory that they can fit in 300 characters?

21313

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

The Vale of Eternity has a mechanic which I hope catches on: Inconvenient Denominations. Coins of different sizes cannot be freely converted, and you can always overpay but you never get change back. It increases the design space of an engine builder without the need for additional resources.

010

Ross Esmond @ross-esmond.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Little lesson I learned at Protospiel Madison: If a component can be placed on a board or card, you shouldn't print a perfect depiction of the component on that space. If you do, it can be hard to tell if there's a component placed there or just the picture. Came up several times.

110