Initial Research

Yesterday our Games Art & Design course assigned us to create a board game in a three week period, with a little bit of leway afterwards to fiddle with small finishing touches. In our group, we decided the best thing to do, was to perform some secondary research into board games so that we could come up with ideas with a little more ease and have something to back up those ideas. Our first form of research was a visit to Toys 'R' Us to take a look at the games section.
The clear best seller in the shop, and it's many, many different variations and themes, was Monopoly. Monopoly had, almost, an entire section devoted just to the one game. The shop also had a lot of other party and family games such as Trivial Pursuits, Scrabble and Twister. This shows that the games that last the longest and sell the best are the games with the widest audience. Games like Monopoly and Trivial Pursuits all have fairly neutral colours and simple rules which can be expanded upon by the players with complex strategies which add a great deal of replay value. I also found that a fair few of the family games have a fair balance between luck and skill. This is so that the less experienced or younger plays can catch up on luck, and the more experienced players can get by on their skill and strategy.
Another form of secondary research conducted was internet based. I chose to look at the different genres of Mainstream board games. Mainstream board games tend to be much simpler than Hobby games, which, considering the time scale given to produce the board game, are probably a safer bet.
The genres of Mainstream board games are as follows:

• Abstract: Abstract board games are always about strategy, skill and occasionally spatial reasoning. They will never have any luck involved. These sorts of games also tend to have very, very simple designs. Often black and white colour schemes with simple shapes used for the counters or pieces. Abstract games often attract an older audience, although the younger audience is often encouraged because of the games usage of logic. Examples of Abstract games include Chess, Checkers and Backgammon. 
• Dexterity: Dexterity games are often based on some form of control over physical objects, as opposed to logic puzzles and games of chance played out with representational counters. An example of this is Jenga, which requires the player to judge the current state of the tower and to decide which blocks are the least load bearing and therefore safest for removal. Twister on the other hand, requires the player to have enough control and dexterity over their own body to reach each spot on the mat. Dexterity games can be aimed at families, young adults and children. As a result, with the exception of Jenga, the colour schemes are often quite bright and eye catching, with a cartoony art style. Other examples of Dexterity games include Operation, Tumblin' Monkeys and Elephun. 
• Family: Family games, as the name suggests, are aimed at both children and adults. This means that the colours are often middle tones, avoiding the black and white look of games aimed heavily at adults and the overly bright, over-saturated colours of childrens games. This means that the art style can appeal to both. Family games are designed to be balanced between luck and skill. This ensures that all players have a chance to play and have fun. Skilled players will be able to think their way ahead, while new players can get by on chance and luck until they get better at the game. Examples of Family games include Monopoly, Trivial Pursuits and Scrabble.
• Party: Party games, although sometimes aimed at children, are mostly aimed towards families and young adults. Party games share similarities with family games in that they often have a lot of middle tones and are not entirely based around skill and experience. Party games will use social interation as a gameplay device. Examples of Party games include Pictionary, Imagine If... and Scruples.