Designing a game can be like a jigsaw puzzle sometimes, where you try to arrange and fit different pieces (ideas) together to make something interesting. You have many pieces and bring them all to the table, spreading them in the surface, then start sorting those in groups that are more likely to fit with each other, like when you sort puzzle pieces by color. But game design is like a magic puzzle.
How a puzzle will look (the big picture)
Usually there’s a box that shows how the complete puzzle should look like and the challenge is to put all the bits together. That’s not how it works when designing a game though: while there is a general concept and experience intended, the final result is uncertain.
Magic part #1: You don’t know how it looks like or how many pieces it will require before starting.
Ever tried completing a puzzle without seeing the final image? It’s more difficult but your imagination is free during the process and you can tell when it’s going in the right direction: pieces are connecting and the image makes sense. You generally start with cool pieces and by looking at them you can grasp what the big picture is.
Organizing the pieces
With all the pieces laid out it’s possible to compare them and start organizing groups of pieces that have common characteristics. If a piece feels out of place in a group, move it to another one, or change that piece in a way to make it feel more cohesive. Unlike regular puzzles you can shape each one if necessary (and probably will be).
Magic part #2: Even though the pieces come in one shape, you can modify them!
Of course sometimes you don’t want to transform a piece so much that it actually becomes a different piece, but that might be required and you can end up with something that is even better! Remember, this is a puzzle, so it’s less about the individual pieces and more about how well they work together and help create something bigger.
Sometimes you feel like there’s something missing, you look through the floor and there it is, a piece that got lost or you didn’t notice before. Many times you don’t notice there are pieces missing until you are halfway building a puzzle, so go ahead and look for them!
Magic part #3: You can spawn new pieces along the way.
Some games might require player creativity, abstraction, bluff or other factors that you can’t put in a box. These are the missing pieces players will bring to complete the puzzle, but you should leave the blank spaces structured enough so players can tell if their pieces will fit or not.
Magic part #4: You don’t have to fill every space.
Completing the puzzle
You might have a piece that is unique, but if it doesn’t fit on that particular puzzle you can save it for another one. These bits are not lost and can be used in a better way in the future, so keep them in a special box of cool unused pieces.
Magic part #5: Have an amazing piece but it doesn’t fit? Save it for another puzzle.
Regular jigsaw puzzles can be fun to build, but they will always look the same in the end. You can build it faster, with a different strategy but the result is already known. When making a magic jigsaw you can allow it to take different shapes, combine pieces in different locations, making it exciting for players to explore the possibilities. The idea is that players will use those pieces and experience the vision you built for the game.
Magic part #6: It might have different shapes in the end.
This is how I feel while designing Ambal Tournament, with all the 100 existing cards it can be quite fun and challenging to make them all fit in this one big puzzle! Jigsaw was used as the metaphor but it could have been building blocks, or anything you piece together, even a cooking recipe! I just happened to keep thinking of puzzle pieces trying to fit when polishing up the skill cards.