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How are board games actually created? This question worries many fans, especially when you think of complex titles that cause knots in the brain when you play them. How challenging does it have to be to come up with such a work?
How are board games actually created? This question worries many fans, especially when you think of complex titles that cause knots in the brain when you play them. How challenging does it have to be to come up with such a work? What precedes this is a completely different question: How do you even manage to get your foot in the ranks of game designers? “Designer days”, i.e. author days, are one possibility. At these meetings, large publishers look for ideas that can be turned into marketable board games. One person who was able to convince the publisher Pegasus Spiele with his concept is Christopher Garbe.
Play in all situations
Among the hundreds of new products that come onto the market every year, there are also works by debutants in the game author scene. They bring ideas to the table, which are then developed into a finished product with the help of the editorial structures in the publishers or completely on their own. Christopher Garbe, together with Patrick Russell, came up with the children's game "Memo Mission", in which children experience small adventures based on a system of memory tiles in the magical world of Fabulantica.
The game was released by Pegasus Spiele in 2023. Christopher Garbe celebrated his debut with the work. The fact that it turned out to be child's play is probably also due to the car's professional background: the 39-year-old, father of two children, is a special education teacher, works in a daycare center in Berlin - so he is confronted with young people playing in different life situations every day, knows their needs and knows about motivational challenges. And Christopher Garbe obviously also knows what is fun for children. Garbe is “in the fortunate situation of being able to play in all situations,” he explains: “Wonderful!”
There was a thought behind the first board game development that many scene insiders probably already had: How do you implement a game concept yourself?
“I think every board gamer has had the idea of developing a game themselves at some point,” says game designer Christopher Garbe. The first prototype for “Memo Mission” ultimately emerged from this plan. “Typically designed and handcrafted,” Garbe looks back. At this point, the game was already more of a mechanical framework, as the fairy tale fantasy structure already existed as an idea. “Then there was a lot of testing,” explains the 39-year-old. In 2019, a “presentable prototype” was shown publicly for the first time, at the Berlin Brettspiel Con. People remained connected to the event, which became an anecdote: “Funnily enough, we repeated this campaign this year - this time as authors at the stand Pegasus Spiele".
Problem: Don't get bogged down in details
The final result is commercially available. Christopher Garbe and Patrick Russell actually took an idea and turned it into a market-ready product. But a memory game of all things? A quick prejudice: memory games are easy to develop. Is that actually the case? Christopher Garbe at least has doubts: “Of course the rules aren’t rocket science. I think the idea must be right. This is exactly where I see the potential of Memo Mission,” explains the author. “Memory 2.0 with a twist - everyone knows immediately what to do, even grandma and grandson. Nevertheless, it feels new.” Children are also a serious opponent in the game: “No luck, no taking it back,” says Garbe. In addition, the six-year-old can win just as much as his fellow player who is four years older than him or even the 45-year-old father who is taking part in the game. “Children are just very good at remembering things,” explains Garbe. “That’s why for me it’s more of a beginner-friendly family game.”
What you need to know about the board game Memo Mission is that it essentially involves various tasks (missions) that have to be completed in the correct order in order to collect crystals. The ability to remember is always challenged and encouraged, even in the opponent's moves. Anyone who finds two to four motifs from the current task on their own turn can tick them off. And: Magic potions help in particularly tricky situations and allow special actions, such as secretly looking at two tiles. This adds a twist to the well-known Memo concept, which ultimately makes Memo Mission a board game that wants to be more than just guessing tiles.
The biggest challenge in developing the game was not to get bogged down in details and to take a step back, says Christopher Garbe. The red line also helped, and it was there from the start: “It actually quickly became clear that it was supposed to be an easy family game or children's game, because we saw our skills in this area - through work, our own gaming experience and the “Family,” explains the Berliner. “We also wanted to make a game that had simple rules and was accessible to everyone.”
In the end, not only were the two authors convinced of their work, they were also impressed by the editorial team Pegasus Spiele win over. And of all things, the pandemic situation helped: “Corona actually played into our hands a bit,” explains Garbe. “In 2020 there were no trade fairs or large-scale author meetings. Instead, only digital meetings.” The two idea generators registered at the publisher’s Designer Days “on the chance,” and then they “came across exactly the right people.” The authors had ten minutes to do some convincing - it was like “a little lion’s den pitch”.
“I can’t say in detail exactly when the spark ignited. At some point during our game presentation, the two editors from the Mühlenkind creative agency gave each other a mutual nod.” Telling each other little stories when uncovering the tiles was particularly well received. This didn’t necessarily apply to the “memo mechanism”: “Yes, we’ve already seen a few of those today.” “, Christopher Garbe passes on the feedback from the experts. But: In the end they were interested and “we even used the remaining time to discuss the next steps and changes.”
“To hold our idea in our hands, fully designed and produced, was indeed a great moment,” says Christopher Garbe happily.
Authors and those who want to become authors have another chance at Pegasus Spiele: The next “Designer days” will take place on January 30th and 31st, 2024, still via video conference. According to the publisher, you will be able to present up to two ideas - “from the area of family and connoisseur games”, so Pegasus Spiele.
Game development in a duet
The children's game Memo Mission is a team project. However, the authors already knew each other: “Patrick and I meet every week to play together,” says Christopher Garbe. At some point the two of them thought about designing something themselves. The duo pursued some ideas and discarded others. “He is sharp and critical and I am euphoric and creative – we complement each other quite well,” says Garbe. The game development as a duet, the “joint project”, was advantageous in this case: it enabled a very differentiated view of the product. And Patrick Russell and Christopher Garbe were always able to share successes: It was always fun to celebrate small milestones - from the signing of the contract, to the finished cover design, to the debut of the children's game on the shelf.
For Christopher Garbe, the success with Memo Mission should not be the only one. Together with Patrick Russell he is already working on “ideas in very different directions”. Some publishers already have something written by the author duo on the table. “Otherwise, we are of course excited to see how our debut work is received,” says Garbe. He is likely to be particularly looking towards Christmas and the gift-giving season. Retail is in the middle of its highest sales period and despite many savings plans in households, according to various surveys, families do not want to skimp on gifts for children.
Because game designers also have free time, the question of personal preferences when it comes to board games follows: “Due to work, I actually play a lot of children’s games,” says Garbe. “In my private life I have everything from family games to expert games on the table.” The entry into the game has to be smooth - you have to play along and be able to decide based on your gut without losing straight away - that's important for game fan Christopher Garbe. He particularly likes cooperative games. “Immersive gaming experiences in which you go on adventures actually excite me more than a simulation,” says Garbe. But: The time factor and the number of games on the shelf unfortunately drifted further and further apart. “But most people probably know that.”
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Pegasus Spiele 18324G - Memoarrr (Edition Spielwiese), 8 years to... * |
11,22 EUR |
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| 2 |
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Laurence King 9783962444266 Memo Game, Colorful * | 16,42 EUR | ||
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Ravensburger 22457 - Kinder memory®, the classic game for... * |
5,37 EUR |
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