I love design diaries in any form (written, video, podcast, etc). As a gamer, designer, and publisher, I love the sneak peek behind the curtain of the creation process.
I also appreciate the marketing aspect of design diaries. When I see the care and thought that a designer has put into a game, I tend to develop an affinity for the game. I also think it’s a great way to spoon feed me new information about the game so I’m not overwhelmed with everything all at once.
Some recent examples of design diaries I really enjoyed were the written posts by Paul Dennen about Clank Catacombs and the video discussions from OOMM Games about Stonesaga.
In addition to recent design diary posts and videos about Expeditions, today I posted the first design diary article for Tapestry: Fantasies & Futures. I typically write all design diaries for a product in advance, then edit day to day when it’s time to post them. I post them in three different places so people can read them in their preferred location:
- Stonemaier Games website
- Tapestry Facebook group
- Tapestry: Fantasies & Futures BoardGameGeek “news” forum
I’ll post the first design diary below as an example, including a little extra information about the special eco-friendly packaging I selected for this expansion. Do you have an example of a design diary that you found particularly compelling? Feel free to share in the comments!
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February 20: The Origins of Fantasies & Futures, Civilizations, and Packaging
Years ago when I was brainstorming ideas for Tapestry, the central theme was that I wanted to create a civilization game in which players could write their own histories from very beginning, with civilizations diverging greatly from real-world history based on the order of various advancements.
However, there was one key idea that I ended up scrapping at the time: How would our world be different if something truly magical were discovered? What if we unearthed dragon eggs or if superpowers were real? Just like in Mistborn and the Legend of Korra, how would these discoveries impact a civilization?
Of course, Tapestry delves slightly into those themes (aliens, time travel, etc), but the third expansion seemed like the right time to dive deep into fantasy and sci-fi themes while still grounding them in the many real-world advancements, tapestries, and technologies showcased in Tapestry, Plans & Ploys, and Arts & Architecture.
After considering a game submission from designer Chris Scaffidi that was a little too close to Tapestry (but did a good job of exploring fictional themes), I asked Chris if he might consider working with Arts & Architecture lead designer Mike Young on the third Tapestry expansion. I took more of a development role in this expansion, and I think both Chris and Mike did a superb job bringing Fantasies & Futures to life, as did artist Andrew Bosley.
Chris, Mike, and I had the opportunity to chat in person about the expansion at the 2021 Stonemaier Games Design Day. In that discussion and email conversations that followed, I steered them towards the core concept of a “more stuff” expansion, with more civs, capital cities, tapestry cards, and tech cards easily shuffled into the core game components. You can play Fantasies & Futures with any combination of Tapestry and the other expansions.
Today I’d like to showcase a few of the 10 new civilizations in Fantasies & Futures, the Weefolk and Faefolk. Here’s a note from Chris and Mike about these two:
“Chris’s game design company focuses on games about weefolk (e.g., gnomes, pixies and goblins), so it was important from a brand standpoint to include at least 1 or 2 related civilizations in the game. Folklore says the weefolk of many varieties secretly live in quiet spots among humans, such as in barns or woods, and they come out to help humans as long as they’re treated nicely.
We reflected this in the expansion by letting the Weefolk place tokens on other players’ boards, achieving a mutual benefit. Folklore says the Faefolk–aka fairies–travel between some other “abode” and our normal universe. We reflected this in the game by letting the Faefolk cycle among different benefits, depending on how they manipulate their civilization’s development (in terms of Tapestry card count).”
If you’ve followed Tapestry, you probably know that we’ve collected data for years to continue to balance slightly overpowered and slightly underpower civilizations. As usual, the last page of the Fantasies & Futures rulebook includes some basic starting adjustments to some civilizations. We are also working on a more comprehensive, heavy-handed civ adjustment process that takes into account a number of factors; it should be available in late 2023 (it wasn’t ready to include in this expansion).
Given that all of the core components were flat and printed, I realized that we could release the expansion in the very eco-friendly format of a sturdy-yet-recyclable courier envelope. Every copy of the expansion (including retail copies) are packaged in these envelopes.
If you order just the expansion by itself, the envelope is designed so our fulfillment centers can simply apply a label to the back of the envelope and drop it in the mail. Not only is this more environmentally friendly in terms of reducing packaging, but it also expedites the fulfillment process. We tested several versions of the envelope to ensure that it would properly protect the components within, and I’m really happy with the final result.
Extra note: I learned during this process that most game boxes are “laminated,” which means they have small amounts of plastic integrated into the exterior of the box to protect it. Unfortunately, this makes the boxes unable to be recycled. Instead, you can choose “varnished” boxes, which are recyclable–we will do this for all expansion boxes from now on, as they have a high likelihood of being tossed.
Of course, if you want to add other items on our webstore to your order (like the new custom insert, which I’ll discuss soon), you’re welcome to do that. Consolidating multiple items into a single shipment is also eco-friendly.
Of those revealed, which civilization are you the most excited to try first? I’ll be back tomorrow to talk about the tapestry cards. You can also follow even more detailed reveals from Chris on his designer blog: https://ferventworkshop.com/tapestry-fantasies-and-futures/
Tapestry: Fantasies & Futures will launch on the Stonemaier Games webstore on March 1, along with a comprehensive custom insert and reprints of Plans & Ploys and Arts & Architecture. Shipping will follow through mid-March. The expansion will be available from retailers in a few months.
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18 Comments on “The Value of Design Diaries (and Eco-Friendly Expansion Packaging)”
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[…] works best if customers are ordering 1 unit of the product and nothing else. You can even design expansion and accessory boxes so a shipping label can be placed directly on them without the need for a box inside a […]
Hello, Jamey!
I’m currently doing a case study of Stonemaier Games for a Design Management subject on my university. Is there a way for me to send a few questions to you?
Thank you so much. I’ve been a fan of Stonemaier and what it has done to the industry for years.
-Vinicius
I’m always happy to answer publicly posted questions (there’s probably a relevant article or video for any question); I’m not available for private consultation, though.
That’s so nice! I’ll send here just the questions I wasn’t able to find a full answer online already (it might deviate a bit from the regular content)
1) How is design strategically applied within the company?
2) What is the impact of design on the transformation and success of the company (image, products, services, etc.)?
3) How is design integrated into the company’s innovation process?
4) What actions of the company demonstrate its strength and resilience in challenging times?
5) How is design contributing to the resilience and survival of the company in the market?
If any of the questions is not suitable for a response, please feel free to just skip it., we don’t want you to lose much time over this questions :)
Thank you again!
Thanks! I’ll try my best to interpret these questions.
1. The task of game design is split between me and others outside of the company. I design some of our games, and I work with some outside designers for other games.
2. Graphic design plays a huge role in every aspect of Stonemaier Games, from branding to clarity and beauty. I think it’s just as important as art, and I’m grateful for our graphic designer, Christine Santana.
3. We’re always trying to create something that doesn’t already exist, even if a game is partially inspired by another game. This is a major goal of every game we create.
4. Despite the huge increases in freight shipping costs and high inflation, we’ve tried to keep the consumer prices for our games the same, and we’ve looked after our employees by giving them high cost-of-living raises.
5. In my opinion, the key is to stay focused on only a few new games each year. We put everything into the design of each product–we bet big–so that when we release something, people know it’s important to us.
The answers were perfect!
Thank you so much, Jamey :)
Hey Jamey –
I love the courier envelope approach, and I’d like to discuss this with our manufacturer for our current project. It’s a great idea to reduce waste, especially from expansion boxes!
Would you mind sharing the specs of the courier envelope that you found worked best? I’m also curious as to your approach for packaging the components inside of it. We’re looking at ~50 cards, 2 punchboards, and a rules leaflet. Thanks!
Thanks for exploring this option, Brett! Everything is simply placed in the envelope, which is 400gsm CCNB sealed with glue and a sticker (it has a tear strip).
Thank you, Jamey. We’ll look into it and keep you posted how it works out.
Big approval of shipping components flat in an envelope 😉
I really enjoy design diaries, outside of yours 2 in particular I found compelling : Oath & Dead reckoning. For both of these they talk about the “Problems” in games they were trying to solve. I could see these problems and found thier suggested solution interesting.
I have also read design diaries that give a perception of less thought or different game design philosophy that don’t mesh with me. Leading to meeting to not purchase.
Forgot stonemaier I am now often checking everyday when design is diaries are comings through as I enjoy how the talk about the games and designs process.
I think it helps a lot if the designer is also someone who can tell a story.
Of the revealed civs I really like the few folk and could definitly see some hard crunching to hit the bonus I want. I could definitly see hitting the space explore 3 times being viable and strong.
I, too, love design diaries and peeks behind the curtain of how this industry works, which is partly why I like this blog (and some others) so much. To be honest, it was an inspiration for doing a YouTube series on the game I’m currently working on (which if anyone is interested in, they can find it here: https://bit.ly/3lJfA6B). I dive perhaps a bit deeper into the design side of things (process, ideation, pitching, etc).
I remember when I started it, asking myself why more designers and publishers didn’t do this sort of thing. It felt like a great opportunity for exposure—and equally importantly—if done right, a great way to maybe help or inspire other designers.
Of course, once I got into producing these, I appreciated the tremendous amount of extra work it adds to the already daunting process of getting a game published (and as I near a Kickstarter for my game in April, the pace of my videos has fallen off dramatically, with so many things to do).
So it makes me appreciate this kind of content even more, knowing how much time and thoughts goes into this kind of work!
That said, for those interested, this was a board game series I had been following that I thought was great (https://bit.ly/3IdC3R6) and though he’s since stopped making these videos, they’re still worth watching.
When you mention varnish, is that the same as was placed on the B2C EE box??
That box actually had “gloss lamination.” Varnish is on pretty much every standard game box. It doesn’t feel like plastic–that’s what surprised me when I learned about it.
Was there any increase in cost or decrease in durability? Curious if there were tradeoffs or if it was a strict upgrade.
I also remember hearing that spot uv also makes it hard to recycle. Curious if this can can be used in its place, or if it needs to have complete coverage to be effective.
Nope, no increase in cost or decrease in durability.
Spot UV is when a box has some special shiny elements, and I’ve heard the same thing about it not being recyclable.
Bravo on the packaging. I think a lot of what passes for eco-friendly measures are not very effective at getting at the most important thing – carbon footprint – but things made from only small amounts of material, shipped in small packages, are.
Great info!