Your first paper game
Put it all together: start from a classic dice game, change its rules with purpose, playtest it and write it up.
THE BASE GAME
Pig: one die, one scary number
Pig is a traditional folk dice game that nobody owns. On your turn, roll one die as many times as you like, adding each number to your turn total. At any point you can say "hold": your turn total goes into your bank and the die passes on. But if you roll a 1, you lose the whole turn total and your turn ends. Banked points are always safe. First to 100 banked points wins.
It takes a minute to teach and has real tension from the first roll: every time you pick up the die, you're deciding how much you're willing to lose.
Roya's turn. Bank: 41
roll 5 turn total 5
roll 3 turn total 8
roll 6 turn total 14
roll 4 turn total 18 ...roll again?
roll 1 BUSTTurn total 18 -> 0. Turn over.
Bank stays at 41.If Roya had said "hold" at 18, her bank would be 59. The whole game lives in that one decision, made again after every roll.
Check yourself
In Pig, Farid has 30 banked points. This turn he has rolled up a turn total of 18, then rolls a 1. What happens?
- He keeps the 18 but his turn ends
- He loses the 18 and his turn ends; his 30 banked points are safe
- He loses the 18 and his 30 banked points
- He loses 1 point and rolls again
Show the answer
He loses the 18 and his turn ends; his 30 banked points are safe
Right. A 1 wipes only the turn total. The bank is safe, which is exactly why holding matters: it's how you protect points.
Pig through the course's lenses
- Goal: be first to 100 banked points.
- Rules: roll or hold; a 1 wipes your turn total.
- Feedback: the turn total climbing aloud, the bank on paper.
- Challenge: pushing your luck, with an uncertain outcome that depends on your nerve.
- Core loop: roll, add, decide, roll again or hold. A few seconds each time.
Check yourself
What is the core decision in Pig?
- Which die to roll
- Roll again or hold
- Which player to attack
- Where to move your token
Show the answer
Roll again or hold
Yes. Roll again for more, or hold to keep what you have. That push-your-luck choice, repeated every few seconds, is the whole game.
WHAT TO FIX
Pig's known weak spots
Good base games still have problems, and they're your design opportunities. Pig has three. The first player has an advantage: they get more turns on average (lesson 7). A turn can drag when someone rolls again and again. There's little interaction: you mostly watch other people roll.
A fix for the first one, in the spirit of lesson 7: when someone reaches 100, everyone who hasn't had as many turns gets one last turn. Highest bank wins.
Check yourself
Testers notice that whoever starts wins Pig a bit more often. Which fix fits best?
- Let the first player roll two dice
- Give the other players a final turn when someone reaches 100
- Remove the rule about rolling a 1
- Make the game first to 200
Show the answer
Give the other players a final turn when someone reaches 100
Right. The first player's edge is an extra turn; a final turn for everyone else gives it back. It's the same idea as komi in Go: balance the start, keep the game.
DESIGN LOG: "Pearl Divers"
Feeling I want: nervous excitement, and laughing at each other's bad luck
v1 Plain Pig, first to 100 -> tense, but long and quiet
v2 First to 50 -> better length
v3 Theme: divers collect pearls,
a 1 is a shark -> people shout "shark"
v4 Each player gets one card:
steal 5 pearls, once per game -> more talking, more laughingFour versions, one change each.
Every arrow is something testers showed.Start from the feeling you want (lesson 3), then pick changes that serve it: a shorter game for pace, a theme for story (lesson 9), a steal card for interaction. Another known variant, Two-Dice Pig, rolls two dice: a single 1 loses the turn total and double 1s wipe your whole bank.
Check yourself
- Tara's v2 changes only the target, from 100 to 50. Testers say games feel better paced. She keeps it.
- Tara's v3 adds a steal card and also changes how the 1 works. Testers say it feels worse, and she has no idea what to undo.
Why could Tara learn from v2 but not from v3?
- v3 had worse testers
- In v3 she changed two things at once, so she can't tell which one caused the problem
- Steal cards are always a bad idea
- Shorter games are always better
Show the answer
In v3 she changed two things at once, so she can't tell which one caused the problem
Exactly. One change per version means every test result points at one cause. With two changes, either one, or the pair together, could be to blame. She should go back to v2 and add one at a time.
Test it and write it up
- Write the one-page rules
Goal, setup, a turn, the end (lesson 11). Read it aloud once; if you stumble, rewrite it.
- Test with about five fresh people
Hand over only the rules page and stay silent (lesson 10). Note where they hesitate, and whether games feel too long or one-sided.
- Change one thing, test again
Pick the biggest problem you saw, make one change, and test with new people.
- Write a one-page design doc
Name, the feeling you're aiming for, the rules, what you changed and why, what testers showed, and the next change to try.
Check yourself
In basic Pig, rolling a 1 also wipes the points you've already banked.
Show the answer
False
False. In basic Pig a 1 only wipes the turn total; banked points are safe. Wiping the bank on double 1s is a rule from the Two-Dice Pig variant, which makes the game harsher.
Lesson recap
- Pig: roll one die as often as you like, a 1 wipes your turn total, hold to bank it, first to 100 wins.
- Its core loop is a push-your-luck decision: roll again or hold.
- Design around known weak spots: a final turn for the others fixes the first-player edge.
- Start from the feeling you want, and change one rule per version.
- Add feel with calls and tokens, test silently with about five fresh people, and write a one-page design doc.
- You're a game designer now. Go find your five testers.