Editing, editing, editing... Comparing different sizes of papers and elements. Getting right the pace of the work - how many puzzles in between the story sections and rules explanations. How would it feel to get the book in your hands, to browse through it, what would catch your eye. It is almost like editing a movie (and I would know, I have a degree in film editing hehe). It's all about the rhythm.

The biggest problem that I'm facing - and I've been facing this same problem from the beginning - is how to explain the rules in the most efficient manner. I've had a discussion with my friend Jure this weekend, who's one of the founders of the Slovenian board game publishing house Pravi Junak. We talked about how the board game landscape is changing and how everything is progressing towards having the least amount of rules as possible. This goes hand in hand with the growing vocabulary of the board game mechanics. A seasoned boardgamer would for example understand "drafting" without having any long-winded explanations in the rulebook. It is a natural process of an expanding art form.

My problem is, the vocabulary of Lineon's mechanics isn't really established anywhere else. The core gameplay is simple and once you know it, you don't have to "think" about how to play it - you simply play it. But getting this knowledge into the reader's head is another thing. I have to "trick" them into wanting to learn the game. Once you get to it, you learn the game in 5-10 minutes, but my job is to make these 5-10 minutes enjoyable... which is still not the case.

Ultimately, it is about getting right the ratio between teaching through interactive examples and rules text. If you have too many interactive examples (which are basically puzzles that act as tutorials), the rules text is too diluted and you understand the game on the intuitive level, not on cerebral level. If you wouldn't be sure about something, you would have a hard time finding the exact rule. On the other hand, having everything thoroughly explained demands a focus that simply isn't viable in the frantic year of 2021. It feels too much like learning from a textbook for a school course. So, in the end, it's about how it "looks" - that first second when you look at the page and sigh "oh, I have to learn all of this text now" or exclaim "this looks interesting! how does it work?".

I could easily finish Lineon in about a month if I would simply write down the rules in large chunks and focus on making the puzzles - which is the fun part. But I respect the reader/player. It's not about finishing a project at any cost - it's about making it flow effortlessly into the reader's mind, so they can also focus on the fun part: solving the puzzles. Who would've thought that making something as simple as possible is the hardest thing in the world.

Sorry for a longer post. I'm not sure anyone even reads these posts, haha. But it is nice to share some thoughts, especially since the development of Lineon is quite a lonely - even though a very rewarding - adventure.

- Blaž