Search for online templates that look similar to the original Pokémon card game’s base design. This way, when you print up your own cards, you can print your cards on the base design to make your card game look more official. [3] X Research source
Think about how you would use your ideas in an RPG, card game, or whichever format you chose. If it doesn’t seem like a perfect match, maybe you could make a board game or video game.
Ages 6+ Ages 6 - 12 Ages 10+ Ages 10 - 12 Ages 16+, and so on. . .
Become involved in online fan communities before begin working on your game. Make friends online so you can ask them for help with your game when you need it. Some examples of fansites you might look into include: the ultimate Pokémon network at www. upnetwork. net, Pokedream at www. pokedream. com, and Bulbagarden at www. bulbagarden. net. [6] X Research source Recruit from among your friends at school who are also interested in Pokémon. You might even have a game, anime, or Pokémon club that you can join to make like-minded friends. If no such club exists, you might want to look into how to start a school club. Take a pencil and paper and write down the particulars of your game. In particular, you should decide how long your game will be, the characters involved, the Pokémon available, and the physical size of the game. Before starting, you should decide how many squares your board game will be, you should know how many cards you’ll need to make for your card game, and you’ll also need to know the dimensions for the maps in your digital games. [7] X Research source
Keep ties in mind. While playing your game, two players may draw, or a player and a non-player character may draw. In this case, you should have clear instructions what players should do. When you have finished writing your rules, go through each and make sure none of the rules contradict each other. Rules that disagree with each other may leave players confused as to what to do next. You might want to write your rules in the Pokémon style to add realism to your game. For example, instead of writing a rule, “Players should draw a card at the beginning of each turn,” you could instead write, “Trainers should power up their Pokemon by drawing cards at the beginning of each round. " You should also include the conditions necessary for player to win with the rules of your game. These conditions can range from simple to complex, depending on the age range and difficulty of your game. [8] X Research source
An example development schedule might look something like:Jan. 1 - 5: Write dialogue for charactersJan. 6 - 20: Write code for maps one and twoJan. 21 - 31: Write code for character dialogueFeb. 1 - 10: Test codeFeb. 11 - 20: Promote on social mediaFeb. 21: Release game
You’ll need to know how you plan on placing the squares of your board game, if you plan on making one. You can even plan on future artwork or setting drawing you plan on using in the future, simply make a notation or draw a simple sketch. Your card game may or may not use a placement board where players lay cards onto specific spaces for certain purposes. But if your game does, you should create a model of one of these placement boards. The physical model will help you test your game. [10] X Research source Draw maps. Tabletop RPGs sometimes make use of pre-made maps for dungeons or other scenarios, like battles. Digital RPGs also use maps that small digital character models (called sprites) travel across. You should draw all maps necessary for your game.
You may have to revise your deadline schedule at some point during the development of your game’s materials. This is not always a bad thing, as some parts of the game making process will likely be easier than you expect. For physical games, you might check out how to make molds. This way, when it’s time to make a character model for the game pieces on your board, you can create a realistic mold for pieces.
You may notice during the course of testing that some of your supplemental materials, some tokens and models for example, are too small for players to use easily. You may want to note this fact down, as well as a note to increase the size of those objects. If you have difficulty taking feedback, you can always use an impartial third party to run your game testing. This way, you won’t influence the test group with your opinions or accidentally add supplemental information players wouldn’t normally have. [11] X Research source
To save money, you might use volunteers to finish the models and professionals to put together the final product. This way you get a professional finished product without having to pay for a professional for the entire project. [12] X Research source
For fans on a budget you might look into ways you can advertise for free. There are also techniques you might employ to advertise for free with local venues on the Internet. [13] X Research source
More complicated games might require more rounds of testing. You should test your game as many times as is necessary until you feel comfortable with the condition and clarity of the game.
3D printers are still relatively expensive, making them fairly rare. You might find a 3D printer you can use to make your game at your local university, a design firm, or a model building company.
