If this is your first time making a game, you might want to start by learning how to make a digital board game to get a feel for the process.
Knowing how to make an online board game, in general, gives you an edge at a time when digital games on all platforms are in high demand. Online game creation can be a stepping stone to bigger and more complicated future projects. If you understand the techniques and features of making a digital game, you can better lead your team. So, let’s get you started on how to make your own board game with the help of tools like StoryboardThat by showing you the basics.
What Is An Electronic Board Game?
Digital board games were already on every personal computer before online games became popular. What is a digital board game, though? It’s a game for a digital platform, such as a desktop computer or a mobile phone. Digital chess, checkers, scrabble, and even Monopoly are some of today’s most popular digital board games. A digital game is a board game that has been turned into a digital version that can be played on a screen.
What Characterizes A Board Game?
However, while it is fairly simple to define digital board games, it is more difficult to define them. What makes it unique? How are they different if they don’t? To figure this out, we need to look at the parts of a traditional board game, such as:
- Board-Based Platform: One of the main requirements for a game to be called a “board one” is that it must be played on a board, usually made with a patterned design so players’ movements can be tracked.
- Moveable Pieces or Miniatures: In traditional board industry, players are given a set of pieces or miniatures to move around the board strategically. These can be as simple as small pucks, like the ones used in checkers, or they can be more detailed figurines.
- Dice: Some board entertainments also use different kinds of dice to make the entertainment more interesting. Each player gets a chance to throw dice to see how many steps or spaces they can move around the board.
But you have to start from the beginning before you can move on to that level.
How To Make A Board Game Online
Even if you aim to make an original online game, you should start with something much simpler. Realistically, it can take about a month or so to make a simple piece of online entertainment, especially if you have to fix bugs and make it look nice.
Let’s make your life a little easier. Here’s an outline of what to do and where to start if you want to make a digital game.
Step 1: Plan the layout of your game
The design is the part of making a game where the mechanics, gameplay, and way the player is supposed to feel are decided. Even if your project is as simple as moving buttons or pawns across a board in a diagonal pattern, keeping track of these design elements will help a lot.
Step 2: Make and bring in your graphics
Making graphics for the board and the pieces is the next step in making an online game. Since this is a step-by-step guide for simple entertainment, a checkered or tiled spread should be enough.
You don’t have to use only black and white stones for the puzzle pieces. Try people-shaped pawns or colored cones. Let your thoughts go crazy. After making the graphics in your design software, you can import them into your engine.
Step 3: Use your game engine of choice to make the blocks or the platform
Now that you have the pictures for your digital game, it’s time to make the important parts.
Since a simple digital one is made up of tiles, you’ll need to use the engine to make squares or cubes. This board or platform is a big part of the design. It’s where the pieces (or players) move around and interact. Make sure all of the tiles are the same size and are set up in the right way.
Step 4: Make pieces that can move
Once you’re done with the board, it’s time to make the pieces for your digital game. Depending on your design, the pieces can be as simple as stones or as complicated as you want them to be. If you wanted to, you could even make the pieces move. Change pawns into characters that can move from one tile to the next.
Step 5: Write the game’s code
In this step, you’ll make the pieces that can move, well, move. But you’ll also have to make sure that every move you make moves the game forward. It is important to know how to code in the best languages for making games. The mechanics will come to life through code.