What happens when a creative spark during a cat-sitting session evolves into a fully-fledged game design project?
In today’s interview, we meet Tim, the creative mind behind Courtiers, a card-based game of royal intrigue that combines creativity with cunning ambition. As someone stepping into game design for the first time, Tim’s journey from initial concept to professionally printed prototype is both refreshingly honest and deeply relatable. We’ll explore the highs and lows of the design process, the challenges of entering the complex world of game development, and how supportive community has helped navigate those overwhelming moments.
Whether you’re a seasoned designer or someone toying with their first game idea, Tim’s story offers valuable insights into what it really takes to transform a creative spark into something tangible.
Joe: Welcome to the What If blog, please introduce yourself to the readers. What brings you to the world of tabletop games design?
Courtiers: Thank you, it’s great to be part of the What If blog! My name’s Tim, I live in Edinburgh and I’m creating a game called Courtiers. I guess my entry into the world of tabletop games design will be familiar to many people. It started with a simple idea (that came to be while cat-sitting and watching a TV show) and it’s snowballed since then! Although I’ve always been a creative person, I’d never made a game before, so this is a whole new world for me and it’s been great fun exploring it so far.
It started with a simple idea (that came to be while cat-sitting and watching a TV show) and it’s snowballed since then!
Joe: OK, I’ll bite – was it the cat or the TV show that did the inspiring (or perhaps something else)?
Tim: Haha, I’d love to say the cat inspired it all, but alas the truth is it was the TV show which planted that initial seed and initiated those first scribbles on paper. However, since then inspiration has come from all sorts of things: university study, books, work, podcasts, people I know, places I’ve visited and, of course, other games.
Joe: Great, tell us a little about the game. What’s the ‘elevator pitch’?
Tim: I always feel like I’m on Dragons’ Den when people ask me this, so here we go! Courtiers is a card-based game set inside a royal palace. One player takes on the role of the monarch while everyone else becomes a royal courtier. Players take turns drawing cards and completing activities, with the aim of collecting the all-important ‘Influence Counters’. Although card-based, each player is equipped with paper and pens which they use to draw or write their responses during the activities, which are packed with royal scandals, gossip and drama! It’s therefore a game of creativity but also of ambition as courtiers will be fighting amongst themselves to collect the most counters while the monarch will be discreetly trying to help one courtier to beat the rest!
Hopefully that piques a few people’s interests, if not I’ll go back to the drawing board!
Joe: Sounds like a lot of fun! I like the idea of incorporating pen and paper into the deduction.
Can you tell me a little of the journey you’ve been on from that initial idea to your current version? What’s been a high, what’s been a low?
Tim: Overall, the journey has been a wonderful one! Taking an idea and putting it down on paper, creating that first homemade prototype and then sharing it with friends and family was so exciting! And in just the last two weeks the first professionally printed prototypes arrived, which feels like a massive milestone in the game’s journey! However, it hasn’t always been a completely smooth road. There have been a few bumps and critiques along the way to trip me up, but many of these have been necessary in improving Courtiers (even if it didn’t feel that way at the time), so I’m grateful to have had the bad as well as the good.
I would say a low has definitely been the feeling of being out of my depth. The reason I say that is because (and this might sound a little strange for someone making a tabletop game) I’m not actually much of a gamer. Entering into the realm of games design has been a whole new world to discover and learn about, and like all new and unknown things, it has been terrifying at times! Seeing other people’s gaming journeys has shown me how the processes involved in game creation are far greater than I had initially thought, and the time, energy and (often large sums of) money that needs to be invested is something I hadn’t considered properly. When you see other people with a beautiful, shiny finished product, it can make you feel very far away from your own finish line too. And so at times it’s been a really overwhelming journey, and the thought that Courtiers might not succeed due to lack of gaming knowledge and experience has crossed my mind a few times.
But thankfully there have been many highs that have kept me motivated and determined to continue with this project. One of these has to be teaming up with the wonderful Gill (@gillybridle) who created all the illustrations for Courtiers. She truly brought the game to life with her drawings, and it was a magical moment seeing all the characters, objects and backgrounds for the first time! Even now, a year on from them being finished, I open up images of them on the computer just to look at them and remind myself how far the game has come since that first idea sparked.
It was a magical moment seeing all the characters, objects and backgrounds for the first time! Even now, a year on from them being finished, I open up images of them on the computer just to look at them.
I should also mention that a huge high has of course been joining the @boardgameprotohype community, and so I owe you a massive thank you, Joe, for inviting me to join you all!
Joe: That out-of-my-depth feeling I think is common. Once you dip your head in and have a look around, there’s so much to this space to learn, and that can be daunting. And I’m happy the BGPH community is helping your journey!
Let’s talk a little bit about your game as it heads its way towards a crowdfunding campaign. First, why crowdfunding? There are other options, why this one?
Tim: I suppose this comes back to the gaming world being a new thing for me and not yet knowing all the options available for campaigns. A large majority of the campaigns I’ve seen running so far have been done through crowdfunding, so this seems the obvious choice, but I would absolutely be open to other options if they felt more appropriate and doable. It’s an area I need to really invest some time looking into before fully committing. What’s been your experience of campaigns? Would you say crowdfunding is best for first-timers or does it depend on the game type, audience, size, etc?
Joe: I’ve not run any myself, but through this blog, and becoming an avid watcher of indie games, it’s made me realise that it’s probably not the route for me. I enjoy the process of developing a game, the playtesting, the ideation, the iteration. And I don’t think I’m the type of person that would enjoy the learning curve that comes with a campaign. I think it comes down to having done your research, and then deciding whether that works for you.
What I’m trying to achieve with this blog, and the BGPH community, is to help designers find that support network and information early on in their journey so they are best placed to make those big decisions about funding when the time comes.
Tim: That’s completely understandable. Once the work begins on the campaign for Courtiers, I might decide it’s not for me either, who knows! But you’re absolutely right, the BGPH community was set up as a support network and it does a wonderful job of doing just that, so it’ll definitely be the first port of call for help when making those next-step decisions for Courtiers.
Joe: One question that’s often asked around crowdfunding is “how do you know when you’re ready?”. Being “ready” is hard to pin down, but what are you using to judge that you’re ready to go?
Tim: Ha! I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there, it’s definitely hard to pin down! It was talked about in one of your recent blog posts about the fear that most designers feel when they’re about to launch something, and that fear will no doubt be in my mind too when the time comes to launch a crowdfunding campaign. So in that respect I’ll probably never be 100% ready.
Having said that, I would measure my ‘readiness’ with two things. Firstly, that Courtiers feels at its absolute best at that moment in time. Sure, I could wait a while and make improvements, but that process would be endless and so at some point the decision must be taken to say ‘stop making adjustments and just put it out there!’ Secondly, is there enough visible interest in the game? It would be daft to launch a full crowdfunding campaign, particularly one with a high target, if you don’t have at least a rough idea of how many people are interested. There’s obviously still the potential for a campaign to be unsuccessful even if interest is high, but going into a campaign would be made a little less scary if there was a positive estimate of potential backers. Only when I was happy with these two areas would I be ready to hit that launch button.
At some point the decision must be taken to say ‘stop making adjustments and just put it out there!
Joe: These are two important points for judging readiness. One thing so many designers fret over is building that audience pre-launch. Can you explore the strategies you’re using and do you have any sense of which are the best?
Tim: Yeah, of course. Currently there are only two strategies I’m using: the first is social media and the second is good old-fashioned word-of-mouth. Instagram isn’t something I’ve had a great relationship with in the past and so rejoining it has been a daunting challenge. However, it’s been immediately clear how important it can be for growing an audience through sharing the story and development of Courtiers. But just as importantly, it’s been brilliant for connecting with other designers and creators who continue to provide invaluable support and insight.
However, as I’m sure many designers would agree, when you make something you love you are more than happy to talk about it with anyone who’ll listen, and so this is probably my preferred method of growing an audience. I’ll often have people approach me and ask ‘what’s the latest with Courtiers?’ which encourages someone nearby to say ‘what’s Courtiers?’ and so word spreads! I’ve found that this is how many people first hear about Courtiers, and personally I find these face-to-face interactions really meaningful as I can truly gauge people’s enthusiasm about the game from seeing their smiling faces and hearing their squeals of excitement about playing!
Joe: Those are two good strategies. Some designers use marketing companies like Launch Boom to get numbers, or run their own ads. Once your Kickstarter is live, do you have plans for any paid marketing? And if so, how are you getting your head around the whole new world that is social media ads?
Tim: The simple answer would be yes to paid marketing if it felt like the campaign needed that extra helping hand. As some preparatory research to help me decide the best route for marketing, I’ve been keeping an eye on the paid ads that appear on my Instagram feed, which has been a helpful method for seeing what information others include in their ads and how effective they appear. Do they jump out at me or do they blend into the other content on my feed? I’ve also chatted with people about paid advertising through social media collaborations, so that’s another option to bear in mind. One of my plans at UKGE this year is to chat to people with experience in advertising and campaigns, and hopefully absorb all their wisdom!
Joe: Thanks for your insights, Tim. One final question: how can we support you and your game?
Tim: Thank you for having me on the blog! Your questions have had me thinking about areas of game design that I hadn’t spent enough time on before, so thank you for providing some motivation and direction for those next steps on the gaming journey!
Courtiers still has some growing to do before it can finally move onto the campaign leg of its journey, so at this stage the best support people can give is to share Courtiers with anyone who might be interested, and to provide constructive feedback on the game so far. So if anyone has any feedback or suggestions, would like further information about the game or would like to playtest Courtiers, then please find me on Instagram @courtiersthegame and drop me a message. I’d love to hear from you!
Tim’s journey with Courtiers perfectly captures the reality of being a first-time game designer: equal parts exciting and terrifying, full of unexpected challenges and delightful discoveries. His honest reflections on feeling out of his depth will resonate with many designers who’ve found themselves navigating unfamiliar territory, while his passion for the creative process shines through every answer. What strikes me most about Tim’s approach is his openness to learning and genuine appreciation for community support, from teaming up with illustrator Gill to embracing the BGPH community at every step.
As Courtiers moves closer to its crowdfunding campaign, it’ll be fascinating to follow its progress and see how Tim’s careful approach to readiness and audience building pays off. If you’re interested in following the game’s development or want to get involved in playtesting, you can find Tim on Instagram @courtiersthegame. And if you’re a designer feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of bringing a game to market, take heart from Tim’s story – sometimes the best approach is simply to take it one step at a time, lean on your community, and trust in the spark that got you started in the first place.
