🎲 How to Design a Tabletop Game in 2026: Beginner Board Game Design Tips from Terror Toad

A Beginner’s Guide from Terror Toad - creators of unique board games and funny card games in the UK

So, you’ve got an idea for a board game. Maybe it popped into your head during a long train ride or boring meeting. Perhaps you’ve observed a ridiculous behaviour from a friend that just has to be immortalised. Or maybe just two ideas collide, and this just feels… playable? However it landed, you should write it down, keep it safe, and pull it out one rainy day. Bring tea and snacks, and get to work. Sorry – get to play.

We’re Terror Toad: an independent tabletop design duo based in Scotland. We released 2 games in our first iteration, had a big old think, a re-register with HMRC, and are coming back with more projects ready to go. We’ve changed the way we work. A lot. And we’ve had a lot to navigate and learn along the way - from early prototyping to figuring out how to self-publish a board game properly in the UK. So, here’s our beginner-friendly guide to designing your first tabletop game.

✏️ Step One: Prototype Fast (and Cheap)

If you’re wondering how to make a board game prototype without spending a fortune, good news: you don’t need fancy software or a print shop to get started.

You might have an idea of theme, or maybe you have a notion of how the gameplay should work (call them mechanics). That’s a great start! Take these elements and jot them all down. Expand on this by considering what you want your game to feel like as an experience; are we competitively collecting cards? Are we bluffing and feeling sneaky? Are we working together urgently with focus or panic? Gaining an insight into the mood, vibe, and atmosphere is one of the most underrated board game design tips.

Take as many of these basic ideas as you can and begin to piece them together. Don’t worry if you’re missing a theme, some mechanics, and are still left with loads of gaps and questions. That’s all completely normal. Begin a test round as soon as possible and edit as you go, trying ideas, adding and removing rules – you’ll have a basic sense of the game in no time.

If you find yourself getting a bit lost or distracted: always return to your core starting point. If you set out to make a game about matching cards, or about escaping a prison, or memorising colours – make sure whatever expansions on your idea come back to its roots. It’s nice to have a mission statement of sorts to keep you grounded.

🃏 Use Standard Playing Cards + Card Sleeves

Need cards? Grab a regular deck of cards and some transparent sleeves. Write on scraps of paper or post-it notes and slip them in - boom, you’ve got custom cards without needing to cut or print anything. Easy to tweak. Easy to reuse. No scissors required. (This is also how many funny card games start their life.)

🎨 Try Canva

We love Canva for designing basic cards, boards, and player aids. It’s free, intuitive, and perfect for print-and-play files (if you can find online folks to test your game – a simplistic document that won’t use too much ink is the way to go!). Keep your designs minimal while you test mechanics, and bring in your artist later to make it unique.

The style of your game doesn’t have to be set from the off. We make our own artwork, deciding on the final look of the product at the end of the testing process. Some basic colour choices and nice fonts can go a long way in the meantime.

🍵 Don’t Forget Snacks

This one’s not optional. Snacks, tea, and the occasional energy drink are critical when inspiration hits at midnight and you just have to finish this turn sequence. Game design is powered by biscuits.

💬 Step Two: Talk to People (Even if it’s Scary)

Testing your game with other humans - and hearing what they really think - is what turns a fun idea into a playable experience. If you're planning to self-publish later on, early playtest feedback is pure gold.

Begin with your family and friends, search for local board game clubs, board game cafes, or specialist board game event folks such as our friends at Dungeons and Flagons in Manchester. Need a wider reach? There's always online spaces...

🎲 Reddit & Facebook: Chaos with Feedback

Reddit forums are messy but full of advice, opinions, and brutal honesty. Ask a question, share a draft of a print & play, or see what others are working on. Just bring a thick skin (and don’t feed the trolls).

Facebook groups can be fabulous for keen play testers, but again, persevere for the best advice. We like Board Game Design Lab for general questions and opinion-seeking.

💌 Join Discord Servers

There are loads of game design communities on Discord where creators run virtual playtests and swap feedback. Try Virtual Playtesting or Break My Game. The more feedback and games you jump on yourself, the more folk will want to reciprocate.

🧠 Step Three: Find Your Creative Zone

Designing games is work, but it should feel like play. Sometimes your brain needs quiet. Other times, it needs input.

🎵 Lofi Girl on YouTube

Can’t focus? Lofi Girl provides chill beats, no lyrics, and no distractions. Ideal for writing rules, balancing stats, or brainstorming expansions.

🌿 Go Outside (or Somewhere Different)

Your next idea might not come from another board game. Go to a museum. Take a nature walk. Read something obscure in a library. Feed your brain compost and see what grows.

🧰 Bonus Tools That Make Life Easier

• List-making: keep track of what components you’re using as you go, and what changes you’re making

• Lovely stationery: colourful pens/post-its or stickers can make a blank page more visually interesting, and a starting point less daunting

• Questions: is the game fun? And is it broken? Ask all the questions about the playing experience to find all the gaps and cement them

  
  

🐸 Final Thoughts from Terror Toad

Game design is messy, weird, and incredibly fun. You don’t need to know everything to get started - you just need to start. Scribble ideas, build weird prototypes, playtest with your pals (or strangers), and stay curious.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be playable.

We’re still learning every day - and if you’re reading this, you probably are too. Keep going. Make that game. You never know where it might take you.

💌 Want More From Us?

🐸 Follow Terror Toad on Instagram

📮 Join our newsletter - the odd email, zero spam

🕹️ Read more blogs: here’s our Tabletop Scotland Recap!

🛒 Looking for unique board games or funny card games created by indie designers? You can shop board games in the UK directly from us at Terror Toad. Buy games here!