×

The Brumble Manifesto

by J. Arthur Ellis

Game design facts:

• Everyone is a game designer.
• Game design doesn't have to generate a product to be justified.
• New game designers would benefit from finishing their designs more often.

I started making Brumble Games in an attempt to do game design without worrying about product pitches, instead attempting to begin and finish game designs more successfully. Brumble Games have taught me:

• Tabletop games don't have to sacrifice good design to be more accessible.
• More tabletop games should be less expensive.
• Tabletop games should accommodate more players more often.

Therefore, Brumble Games are designed to…

• …prioritize fewer, interactive rules over intricate systems.
• …prioritize fewer, creatively crafted components over high-priced box bloat.
• …prioritize high player counts over lots of stuff for each player

Anyone can design a Brumble Game. Here are the guidelines:

• The design should include 20 or fewer cards.
• The design should not use other components, besides scorekeeping or a couple of standard dice.
• The design should theoretically accommodate an unlimited number of players.
• The game should be produced by hand, on paper, during its design stage.
• After a few iterations, the game should be pronounced "done" and shared with the world in some way.