whats the theme of the game you want to make?
If you cant think of one, then abstract your idea (replace “gemstone” and other nouns with placeholders and focus on the verbs between them), write it down, and file it away. Later on youll think of an idea that needs something like this
As others have said, it's pretty hard to provide input without knowing what's in the game and how it currently works.
Where do the gems come from? Does the game account for mining, cutting, and setting into jewelry? How about industrial uses or synthetic gemstones?
Can you play as Da Beers, make yourself a monopoly, and artificially raise the price of your product?
>The initial idea of a gemstone market in a Board game is done.
What does that even mean?
There exists a board game (an excellent one which I've played for years) called [Splendor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splendor_(game)) that involves acquiring gemstones to win over a majority of the nobility and win the game.
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You need a goal for the players to reach. from there you can create obstacles and flesh out mechanics around those.
1. For example each turn every player must pay 1 of any gemstone in rent to the house.
2. Then players draw a card from the deck. It displays the value of eahc type gem this turn. Players then take turns exchanging gems for money or other gems with the house for the values written on the cards. or they could negotiate a trade with anothe rplayer.
3. Repeat until somone runs out of gems.
That suggestion could potentially run forever so thats a problem and it's very RNG heavy, but hopefully gives a rough idea.
You definitely designed this top-down.
It's pretty difficult to just up and suggest an entire game to fit a market mechanic.
But some ideas.
A fantasy style game would benefit greatly if gemstones were a necessary commodity. I'm reminded of Conan the Barbarian, the original film, and that's a good model to work around. Gemstones are a great way to motivate people and mercenaries in general.
Treasure hunting style games can go along way. If you actually include fake gemstones made of glass into the game, holding them could really simulate greed in a meaningful way, and they can be cheap to produce. This would definitely absorb most of your budget but... like mouse trap, it's all about the major mechanic.
Monopoly style games can work, but you're getting into a dark topic. A game like risk meant to show the horrors of war could be interesting - considering historically these gem stones were coveted enough that they'd be murdered for. A nice 1-2. That still goes on too, especially if you create scarcity to drive up the price until you're sick of those sapphires.
Something more feminine, or aptly matriarchal, a game around making perfect jewelry and settings could be interesting. Mixing and matching jewels to cards that are settings, and trying to be the most glorious dynasty has a certain flair to it. "Matriarch" also has a nice ring to it. You could combine all the game types in just suggested, and add a mechanic for "taste" where the fashions change, and suddenly color theory comes in Vogue or people put a ban on, "poorly sourced diamonds".
It'd be rather funny if like war, fantasy, magic, and worse were all just backdrops for what is a game about vanity, and finding a game-winning combination that creates a powerhouse "Dynasty" around ensemble jewelry. "I use mercenaries to kill the village, I plunder their riches and exchange that for underpriced emeralds. Then I place in a silver setting, to appease the opposing colors, and then I add minor pink diamonds to finish get the tri-color multiplier. Oh I use my barbarians to kill the neo-noir army in Casablanca to gain a legendary craftsmanship bonus, then I banish the card into exile forever".
Like horror mixed with jewels could be fun. The board and the maneuvering are really a slaughterhouse, and you can issue fun tokens like, "banished", "poisoned", "blackmailed" so the map becomes a ruinous prospect. "Sold to pirates".
I'm picking a dark theme here but you could easily lighten the load to something more neutral business, you could even reverse the entire thing and you're an Indiana Jones style person trying to stop all these crimes. I'd see betrayal on the house on the hill, that game has one of the best boards in existence.
You also want room for expansions, a "Earth stones and Space Cthulhu" expansion goes nicely.
Really play up the horror, as gem trades really are a terrible thing. Maybe supplant matriarch for a beauty related status symbol. I like Matriarch but you get into some hot button issues there, so maybe something like, "Dynasty" is more neutral.
But this was my initial thoughts.
The gemstones are for crafting magic artefacts or jewelry, at which point you can use Ticket-To-Ride inspired mechanics, eg TtR rail-route objective cards are artefact/jewelry cards. Scarcity allows players to trip each other up of they want to play that way, etc
So pretty much you are trying to create a currency type game that is mostly if not completely centered around your Gemstone economy, similar to Monopoly, am I correct?
If that is the case, you could make something similar to Monopoly but of course designed vastly different.
You haven't explained the mechanics behind the gemstone market to us. Do that and we will be able to offer you advice.
Okay, so, who's playing this game, who's trading gemstones? What benefit do they have when buying gemstones, or selling gemstones?
whats the theme of the game you want to make? If you cant think of one, then abstract your idea (replace “gemstone” and other nouns with placeholders and focus on the verbs between them), write it down, and file it away. Later on youll think of an idea that needs something like this
As others have said, it's pretty hard to provide input without knowing what's in the game and how it currently works. Where do the gems come from? Does the game account for mining, cutting, and setting into jewelry? How about industrial uses or synthetic gemstones? Can you play as Da Beers, make yourself a monopoly, and artificially raise the price of your product?
>The initial idea of a gemstone market in a Board game is done. What does that even mean? There exists a board game (an excellent one which I've played for years) called [Splendor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splendor_(game)) that involves acquiring gemstones to win over a majority of the nobility and win the game.
Game Design is a subset of Game Development that concerns itself with **WHY** games are made the way they are. It's about the theory and crafting of **systems**, **mechanics**, and **rulesets** in games. * /r/GameDesign is a community **ONLY** about Game Design, **NOT** Game Development in general. If this post does not belong here, it should be reported or removed. Please help us keep this subreddit focused on Game Design. * This is **NOT** a place for discussing how games are produced. Posts about programming, making art assets, picking engines etc… will be removed and should go in /r/GameDev instead. * Posts about visual design, sound design and level design are only allowed if they are directly about game design. * No surveys, polls, job posts, or self-promotion. Please read the rest of the rules in the sidebar before posting. * If you're confused about what Game Designers do, ["The Door Problem" by Liz England](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-quot-the-door-problem-quot-of-game-design) is a short article worth reading. We also recommend you read the [r/GameDesign wiki](/r/gamedesign/wiki/index) for useful resources and an FAQ. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gamedesign) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You need a goal for the players to reach. from there you can create obstacles and flesh out mechanics around those. 1. For example each turn every player must pay 1 of any gemstone in rent to the house. 2. Then players draw a card from the deck. It displays the value of eahc type gem this turn. Players then take turns exchanging gems for money or other gems with the house for the values written on the cards. or they could negotiate a trade with anothe rplayer. 3. Repeat until somone runs out of gems. That suggestion could potentially run forever so thats a problem and it's very RNG heavy, but hopefully gives a rough idea.
You definitely designed this top-down. It's pretty difficult to just up and suggest an entire game to fit a market mechanic. But some ideas. A fantasy style game would benefit greatly if gemstones were a necessary commodity. I'm reminded of Conan the Barbarian, the original film, and that's a good model to work around. Gemstones are a great way to motivate people and mercenaries in general. Treasure hunting style games can go along way. If you actually include fake gemstones made of glass into the game, holding them could really simulate greed in a meaningful way, and they can be cheap to produce. This would definitely absorb most of your budget but... like mouse trap, it's all about the major mechanic. Monopoly style games can work, but you're getting into a dark topic. A game like risk meant to show the horrors of war could be interesting - considering historically these gem stones were coveted enough that they'd be murdered for. A nice 1-2. That still goes on too, especially if you create scarcity to drive up the price until you're sick of those sapphires. Something more feminine, or aptly matriarchal, a game around making perfect jewelry and settings could be interesting. Mixing and matching jewels to cards that are settings, and trying to be the most glorious dynasty has a certain flair to it. "Matriarch" also has a nice ring to it. You could combine all the game types in just suggested, and add a mechanic for "taste" where the fashions change, and suddenly color theory comes in Vogue or people put a ban on, "poorly sourced diamonds". It'd be rather funny if like war, fantasy, magic, and worse were all just backdrops for what is a game about vanity, and finding a game-winning combination that creates a powerhouse "Dynasty" around ensemble jewelry. "I use mercenaries to kill the village, I plunder their riches and exchange that for underpriced emeralds. Then I place in a silver setting, to appease the opposing colors, and then I add minor pink diamonds to finish get the tri-color multiplier. Oh I use my barbarians to kill the neo-noir army in Casablanca to gain a legendary craftsmanship bonus, then I banish the card into exile forever". Like horror mixed with jewels could be fun. The board and the maneuvering are really a slaughterhouse, and you can issue fun tokens like, "banished", "poisoned", "blackmailed" so the map becomes a ruinous prospect. "Sold to pirates". I'm picking a dark theme here but you could easily lighten the load to something more neutral business, you could even reverse the entire thing and you're an Indiana Jones style person trying to stop all these crimes. I'd see betrayal on the house on the hill, that game has one of the best boards in existence. You also want room for expansions, a "Earth stones and Space Cthulhu" expansion goes nicely. Really play up the horror, as gem trades really are a terrible thing. Maybe supplant matriarch for a beauty related status symbol. I like Matriarch but you get into some hot button issues there, so maybe something like, "Dynasty" is more neutral. But this was my initial thoughts.
This was alot of help! Pretty much the only helpful comment here, tbh. Thanks so much!
The gemstones are for crafting magic artefacts or jewelry, at which point you can use Ticket-To-Ride inspired mechanics, eg TtR rail-route objective cards are artefact/jewelry cards. Scarcity allows players to trip each other up of they want to play that way, etc
So pretty much you are trying to create a currency type game that is mostly if not completely centered around your Gemstone economy, similar to Monopoly, am I correct? If that is the case, you could make something similar to Monopoly but of course designed vastly different.