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Continue to read online or download as an ebook: HERE
Introduction
Chapter 1. Scenario/Theme?
Chapter 2. Characters
Chapter 3. Environments of Interaction
Chapter 4. Progression
Chapter 5. "Board or No Board" That is the Question
Chapter 6. Number of Players
Chapter 7. Play Methods/Mechanics
Chapter 8. Example Invention
Chapter 9. Game Objective
Chapter 10. Fortune Misfortune
Chapter 11. Length of Play
Chapter 12. Rules and Play
Chapter 13. Game Ideas
Conclusion

Introduction

Disclaimer:
This tutorial contains opinions and ideas of the author.
This tutorial is published with the understanding that the author is not engaged in rendering professional services. The author is not a qualified Lawyer, Patent Attorney or Advisor and therefore disclaims any responsibility for any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, that may arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of the use and application of any of the contents of this tutorial.
In this tutorial the author explains the process used to write his own patent and is not intended to be legal advice.
Links to relevant websites are provided to help Board Game Designers and Inventors locate information and the author does not guarantee the validity of this information and recommends professional advice should be sought where appropriate.
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Welcome Aboard Fellow Inventors
This tutorial is designed to assist you on your journey.
For a beginner it can be difficult to know where to begin.
This Go An Ah Play Games Tutorial will hopefully get you motivated and on track.

The two main reasons for creating a game is usually to either Entertain or Educate.
There may however, be any number of other reasons.
Ultimately, you, and only you, know why you will begin such a creative endeavour.

Firstly, as the author of this tutorial, I would like to introduce myself.
My inventive journey began in 1992 at the age of 23.
My first game began in a humble fashion.
The Game consisted a board (side of a cardboard box), cards (paper), and tokens (sections of curtain rod).
I introduced this version to friends and family, had lots of fun and the feedback was terrific.
I made only 3 more games during the following 15 years. One was a Board Game whose cards also could be played without the board as two extra games.
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I was living life, raising a family, working as an electrician and the games were only a hobby.
Then in 2007 I had an idea to create games that would target a particular industry.
In the following years I made 4 more games, however at this stage I have only published one, Toxin Drop^®. In order to market this game and the 6 other games waiting to be published, I needed to establish a business.
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Thus began Go An Ah Play Games. A business designed to:
Develop and Market Games Designed to Suit a Specific Niche or Target a Particular Industry

This site is here not only to market the games I create.
I would love the opportunity to market your inventions.
That's correct, this is where you come into the picture.
I freely offer this tutorial to Share my Experience and hope to Encourage You and Recruit Your Help.

How can I help? I hear you ask.
Go An Ah Play Games^® contains a webpage named Go An Ah Market.
The purpose of Go An Ah Market is to provide a site for new inventors to expose their creations.
A successful outcome of offering this tutorial would be to fill this site with new games.
Later in the tutorial I will explain how this can be achieved.
It's a bit early to discuss this yet.

Let's get some games developed first.

If you have read this far, Welcome Aboard!
You are most likely self motivated and ready to embark on your own inventive journey.
You have probably already chosen a Scenario also known as a Theme.

A scenario does not necessarily have to be first.
The reason it is mentioned first is only to provide direction for this tutorial.
This tutorial follows mainly a Step by Step process of intellectual creativity.

Since creativity cannot be confined to a step by step process, this is a guide only.
I, for example, have changed scenarios well into the development of some of my games.
At other times I have invented a Play Method first and later decided upon a theme.
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Chapter 1. So what is a Scenario/Theme?

The best example is a writer.
Before putting a pen to paper, a writer will usually know the subject they will be writing about.
A Romance Novel, A Thriller, A Children's Book or even "How to Grow your own Spirulina".
A scenario is basically a Subject, Topic, Setting or Niche.

Idea Image

I am a firm believer that the Best Ideas Come From Passion.

Try to choose a scenario that You Love, Have Experience and/or Enjoy Researching.
If you are a mechanically minded person and love cars, it might be a good idea to try this first.
You will most likely find ideas flow through your thoughts like a river if you choose this as your topic.

Imagine a game that teaches "How to Rebuild a Combustion Engine".
This is a perfect example of the targeted industry I spoke of earlier.

Mechanic

One of my passions is Naturopathic Remedies and Alternative Therapies.
I spent 15 years studying this topic along side Spirituality/Religion.
From this Passion Toxin Drop® The Detoxification Activation and Ascension Game was born.

After you have decided upon a few scenarios, try to select one that has Not Been Beaten to Death. After all, who wants to risk Infringing Copyright or Patent?
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There would be 1,000 different versions of Monopoly for example.
In my opinion, to create another edition of this game would be Innovation or Alteration and not Invention.
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The next possible consideration should be to Determine the Purpose of the Game.
As I mentioned earlier, the two most common reasons to invent a game are to either Entertain or Educate. Most educational games are entertaining but not all entertianing games are educational.

Let the Games Begin!

Get a pen and paper and draw a table as shown below.
Try to think of as many scenario's as possible as this will kick your creative side into gear.

Example Scenario Chart:

Scenario		Purpose
	Making Wine	To pass on the knowledge of Viticulture and Wine Making in a fun way
	Race Around the World	To Entertain and Teach the Countries and Cities of the World
	The Periodic Table of Elements	To enable Chemistry and Physics students to comprehend Chemical Interactions
	Mechanic	To use as a Training Tool for Apprentices

Go An Ah Practice
Throughout this tutorial I will be demonstrating the inventing of a board game to show the process from start to finish.
After you have chosen a scenario from your list, you can follow my examples as you read the chapters.

Disclaimer: I have not previously created a football game and so will demonstrate the process as it develops. I have not researched patents to see if there are currently any football games out there already published. The game I am about to invent is entirely from my own ideas and is for instructional purposes only. If this game is similar to a published game, it is not intentional, just a coincidence.
I am about to pass on one of the many methods I use when inventing a board game.
I am not suggesting this is the best method or the only method. I am just offering ideas to stir up the creative juices of beginners.
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Scenario	Purpose
AFL Australian Rules Football	To Entertain and allow spectators to become players

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Chapter 4. Progression

Without movement there is no game.
You already know that a Card Game progresses as each player has a turn in a clockwise rotation.
A Board Game progresses as each player moves a random generator such as a spinner or dice.
So you need to decide whether to use a Spinner, Dice, Cards or some other device to move players through the game.

While we are on the subject of progression, don't forget to consider luck.
Remember Snakes and Ladders, a game that moves a player Forward or Backward.
Also most games have Miss a Turn, Move Ahead so many spaces, Go To such and such and Have a Free Turn.

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Go An Ah Practice

In our Football Game, players will use Cards as the Random Generator.
For example as a player discards a card with a Coloured Dot, the player can move the Game Token onto the Corresponding Dot on the Game Board.
Another example may be that as a player discards a card displaying a Grid Location, the player will move the Game Token onto the corresponding Grid Location on the Game Board.

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Chapter 5. "Board or No Board"

Are you inventing a card game or a board game?

This is an important question as it concerns Levels and Points.
A Game Board uses Game Tokens (pawns) to record each players progression throughout the game.

A Card Game could perhaps use a Tally Sheet to record each players progress or perhaps players might Collect Cards to show their advancement throughout the game.

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Go An Ah Practice

A Game Board will be created to represent the football oval

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Chapter 6. Number of Players

In each game I have invented, I have found that the number of players a game allows depends entirely on the game and the number of cards in the game.

For example: A game with 8 players may require 1,000 cards, reducing the game to 4 players, will halve the required cards to 500.

The time taken to complete the game may also influence the number of players.
The more players, the longer the waiting time for each player to have a turn, and therefore a longer game.
So my advice is to aim for six players, test run the game and if it takes too long, use less players.

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Go An Ah Practice

The Aussie Footy Game will have 6 players with 3 players on each team

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Chapter 7. Play Methods/Mechanics

Here I have listed Methods of Play to give you some ideas you can use.

Collect	Money, Cards, Tokens, Bananas or whatever
Match	Colours, Shapes, Pairs, Groups, Kinds, Categories etc
Travel	Players move through a Game Board or Maze
Scoring	Players add points to a Tally Sheet as they discard certain cards or land on a Play Board Square
Language	Word Building, Word Puzzles
Trivia	Answer Questions, Solve Riddles etc
Action	Players Push, Click or Move Objects to complete a task
Mathematics	Number Puzzles, Time, Distance, Calculations, Number Patterns

You might want your players to break their way through an obstacle, work through a maze, or collect patterns, pictures or shapes. If you can think of any more methods, perhaps you can email them to me to improve this tutorial. In fact email me as you progress if you like, it would be nice to hear how you are doing.
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contact@goanahplaygames.com

Go An Ah Practice
Go An Ah Give you a Tip: Dont worry about details yet.
Just brainstorm (write down ideas).
You will go back over it later to add, improve, alter and delete.

Play Method (game mechanics) for the Aussie Footy Game:
Divide the number of players into 2 teams (cant have 5 or 3 players).
Decide which player goes first, "Bounce In" is the highest throw on a dice.
Perhaps coloured dots on the cards and matching coloured dots on the board.
The team decides which player's hand to use during their turn and that player throws a dice.
Player throws a 3 on the dice and therefore discards 3 cards to move along the board.
The 3 Dots on the board in front of the ball are Yellow, Blue, Blue. The player only has one yellow and one blue card in the hand. Therfore the player can move only two spaces as they discard a Yellow and a Blue card. The player cannot move 3 dots because the player had only one blue in hand. Player picks up 2 cards from pack to maintain 6 cards in the hand.
Or maybe any player of the same team can use cards in the hand to work together during the team's turn.
Maybe instead of dots you could have a grid to locate the position of the ball and the location of the players. Perhaps if an opponents game token (football player) passes through your grid location, you take possession of the ball during their turn.
Game Tokens could be restricted to certain sections of the board, ie Ruck, Flank, Centre Forward etc).
Football Player Cards could be used to move a player's game token
The number on a dice thrown could indicate how many grid cards or coloured dot cards are needed to move the football.

To help design the game and stimulate ideas, it is a good to do some research on the subject.

Google is good for this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football_positions

Australian rules football positions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team are assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the ground. As the game has evolved, tactics and team formations have changed, and the names of the positions and the duties involved have evolved too. In total there are 18 positions in Australian rules football, not including 4 (sometimes 6 - 8) interchange players who may come onto the ground at any time during play to replace another player.

The fluid nature of the modern game means the positions in football are not as formally defined as in sports such as rugby or American football. Even so, most players will play in a limited range of positions throughout their career, as each position requires a particular set of skills. Footballers who are able to play comfortably in numerous positions are referred to as utility players.

Australian rules football positions
B:	back pocket	fullback	back pocket
HB:	half-back flank	centre half-back	half-back flank
C:	wing	centre	wing
HF:	half-forward flank	centre half-forward	half-forward flank
F:	forward pocket	full-forward	forward pocket
Foll:	ruckman	ruck rover	rover
Int:	Interchange bench	Interchange bench	Interchange bench
		Interchange bench
Coach:	coach

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Chapter 8. Example Invention

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Go An Ah Practice
I have chosen AFL Football (an Australian Ball Game) for the example.
You have seen the process of Method of Play being invented.
Notice I had the coloured dots idea first but then thought about a grid method afterward.
This is good as it gives more room for creativity later on.
The Method of Play needs more work, however we have the framework down ready for building.

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Chapter 9. Game Objective

The Game objective is an outline or summary of the process of playing the game and what a player will need to achieve to win.

With our example, it is easy to establish the Game Objective as it is based on a game of competition with existing rules and play.

The objective is to get the football token down to your teams end of the board between the goal posts.
The player's team that scores the most goals at the end of the game is declared the winner.

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Chapter 10. Fortune Misfortune

Here we need to think about luck to make the game more unpredictable and more interesting.
Time to write down some ideas.

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Go An Ah Practice

Penalty Card prevents a team from having a turn and when a penalty card is discarded it becomes the opponents turn. If a Penalty Card not discarded it remains in front of the team until they decide to use it. However as long as it remains there a Free Kick Card cannot be redeemed.
A Free Kick Card when discarded allows a team to select one of their players to have a turn.
A Free Kick Card may be discarded with a Penalty Card during a players turn as they cancel each other and game plays as normal.

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Chapter 11. Length of Play

It is time to look at how long it takes to complete the game.
There are no standards to refer to here. It depends on the type of game.
A simple shape matching game would most likely get boring if it lasted 2 hours.
However most people would not complain about spending 90 minutes on a multi-level adventure game.
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If players were to spend a long time:

Waiting to pick up a certain card
Waiting to throw a certain number on the dice or
Missing turns

It wouldn't take long before the players become tired of playing.
That said, there still has to be a certain amount of chance.
Chance allows players to overtake and advance beyond other players and win the game.
A game would be very ordinary if all players progressed in exactly the same manner at the same rate.
We need to provide Surprise, Chance, Bonus's, Penalties, Choices and Adventure .
Your aim is to find a balance that works.
My advice is to play with as many different players from different age groups as possible.
But remember, a game with less players will not take as long to play as a game with more players.

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Chapter 12. Rules and Play

Before marketing your game, writing an Instruction Booklet is an important step in the creation.
By now you have most likely played your game with many different people.
What if you were not present to explain how the game works?

Imagine you are a customer and have just purchased your game.
You would have to rely totally on the instructions to play the game.
A lot of what you the inventor, ASSUME is obvious, may not necessarily be obvious to others.
Therefore after you have written your Rules and How to Play Booklet,
I suggest you ask a friend or relative that has never played the game to edit the instructions.
Even the way you word a sentence can potentially be misleading and send a new player down
the wrong path.

Preparation of the Patent
Having detailed, easy to follow Instructions is essential when writing your own Patent.
Of course you can employ a Patent Attorney to write your patent for you.

Personally I found it too expensive and therefore I write my own. I rely heavily on the Instructions to write the Abstract, Description and Claims in a Standard Patent.
A Patent Attorney told me the greatest cost is the time taken to understand the workings of the game. Even if using an Attorney, they still need well written and thorough descriptions and diagrams to work from.

I was told it could take 8-10 hours for an attorney to evaluate the game play. Considering they are paid by the hour, the time you spend preparing, could save you quite a lot of money.

The following example is the format that I find works for me.
And just like this tutorial, my aim is not to make a set of rigid rules on how to make your game. I am simply freely sharing ideas and opinions that will hopefully be of use to you as you progress in your creation.

As I am only using my example for instructional purposes; I have not yet decided to go with the coloured dots or the grid location method to travel the board (oval). Therefore I will use examples from both ideas to allow you to see the process I use to write the instructions.
If I were really inventing this game to market, I would have played the game.
I would have decided the method before I began writing the Rules and Play.

Description or Outline
Players of “Name of Game” will “Mechanics and Outcome”.
ie. Players of “Footy Laces” will “experience playing Australian Football as they team up with
other players in a race to kick the most goals and points with the aim of winning the game”.

Dealing of the Cards
This game plays “Direction of Play (clockwise/anticlockwise)” and allows “#” of players.
Each player is dealt “#” of cards to be held in the player's hand.
This is referred to as the player's hand.
The remainder of the deck is to be placed face down in the centre.

Begin Play
To begin play the “player clockwise to the dealer” or “the player that rolls the highest number”
is to “pick up the top card from the deck and place in the hand, and discard a card from the
Hand beside the deck face up” or “is to throw the dice to establish the number to move”.

Cards and Board Squares Explained
Now I usually explain the cards that players are likely to pick up and what is to happen.
After a card is picked up, is the card to be placed in front of player until used, or to be discarded beside the deck and a certain thing will happen.
Or explain what happens if you land on a square on the board.

I like to give each description a heading. For example:

Coloured Dot Card:
When discarded this card allows a player to move the football token on the board.
The player can only move the ball onto a location, beside the ball's current
location, that has the same coloured dot as displayed on the card.
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Penalty Card:
When discarded this card prevents a team from having a turn and it becomes the opponents turn.
A Penalty Card does not have to be discarded.
It may remain in front of the team until they decide to use it.
However as long as it remains there, a Free Kick Card cannot be redeemed.

Taking Possession:
When the ball token lands on a grid location occupied by an opponent's Football Player Token.
The opponent's team may take possession of the ball.
Opponents may move the Ball to any grid location occupied by a Football Player Token on their team. Certain Football Player Tokens are restricted to certain sections of the board.
(ie Ruck, Flank, Centre Forward etc).

Scoring Points:
Here you would include the rules on how to record on the Tally Sheet.
In our example we would most likely use the same points and goals as in the real game.

Ending the Game:
The first player to “collect, completed, arrived, answered etc.” is declared the winner and
the game ends.
Or
When a player has “collected, completed, arrived, answered etc.”, that player is declared the
winner and the game ends.
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Example: The game is divided into 4 quarters.
At the beginning of the game the length of time for a quarter is decided.
In the real game it is 20 minutes.
At completion of the last quarter, the team with the most points is the winner.

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Chapter 13. Game Ideas

I will now jot down some ideas. You will notice my examples have a focus on teaching.
Perhaps this is because I am a qualified trainer.
I can see a lot of potential in marketing games that target upper school education and workplace training.

This is the focus of Go An Ah Play Games®. If you have ideas you would like to include in this tutorial, please email contact@goanahplaygames.com.
I plan on continually updating and improving this tutorial.

Spy Game: I received the following email from http://www.topspysecrets.com/

"As you know, I have a spy site for kids. It's doing very well, but I have been searching for a product idea to offer from the site. An original spy themed game (like a card game) with an educational twist would be something I'd love to be able to offer. Is there any way you can put me into contact with a game inventor who could design a spy game with me? Or maybe you know of a game someone invented that could be adapted to a spy theme? It was just a thought that occurred to me." Kind regards, Mr. E
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If you would like to help Mr. E to create a spy game please email.

Recipes: The player obtains a certain card to cook a certain type of food, ie. seafood,
dessert, salad, entrée, breakfast etc. Throughout the game each player needs to collect ingredients and follow a specific process to complete the task.
You could use this game to teach home economics students or apprentices to learn recipes, ingredients, temperature, food preparation and presentation.

Nursery: Each player is to design and landscape a garden to suit a specific purpose. Ie. Grow
vegetables, full shade, full sun, decorative, coastal region, dry or desert etc. The game could
teach the names of real plants and players would select plants to inhabit particular
environments. Players may begin the game with an environment that suits a specific card or cards held by an opponent, this could encourage player interaction, such as trading, stealing etc. You could even add pests, natural disaster, drought, flood, fertiliser, mulch, pruning, grafting etc.

Science: Imagine the possibilities available in this subject. You could design a game to help
students learn astronomy, biology, chemistry, anatomy and physiology or even quantum
physics.

Information Technology: How about designing a game to teach the older generation that
did not grow up with computers, computer basics, in the form of a non threatening board or
card game.

I think it is time for you to go and get started. Good Luck.

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Conclusion

I hope Step 1 of this tutorial has provided a framework to assist you in the creation of your very own board or card game.
There are many games already out there, that is true.

However I believe a lot of the games currently available are designed to:
1. Test general knowledge such as a trivia game
2. Entertain for the sake of passing time and encourage interaction
3. To educate children
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There is nothing wrong with any of the above.
I am just pointing out that there may be other possibilities.
A Market is available to inventors with a creative mind willing to cater for a niche market.
Even if we produced all the game ideas mentioned in this tutorial,
there still remains a multitude of game ideas waiting to be thought up.
Just when we think everything has been invented - Somebody invents something.
See you in the next lesson.


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