James Ernest: Traditional and Abstract Game Design

Published: Wed 24th Sep

James Ernest (Cheapass Games / Crab Fragment Labs) explains the techniques of traditional and abstract game design in this talk from Gen Con 2025.

James Ernest is an accomplished tabletop game designer with more than 200 published games including Kill Doctor Lucky, Button Men, Pirates of the Spanish Main, and the Fable II Pub Games.

In this lecture he focuses on tips and techniques for identifying and creating games with a "traditional" feel, games that might have been around for centuries, using the development of Tak: A Beautiful Game (with Patrick Rothfuss) as a case study.

Sections:
0:01:28 Introduction / Topics
0:02:16 The Game Designer's Job
0:04:30 Defining Traditional / Abstract Games
0:07:41 Why Work In This Space?
0:12:45 Core Design Principles
0:16:37 Define the Experience
0:20:47 Understanding Game State
0:22:07 Maximizing Value
0:26:48 Iteration and Development / Keep it Simple
0:28:53 Trend to Conclusion
0:30:52 Fairness and Balance
0:32:51 Power Curves
0:35:56 Case Study: Tak

Crab Fragment on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crabfragment
Crab Fragment Labs: https://www.crabfragmentlabs.com/
Lecture Hall: https://crabfragmentlabs.com/lecture-hall

This video was recorded at the Gen Con Game Design Academy, 2025.

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