Recording Journal Entries
Keeping a design journal is one of the most underrated habits in game design and facilitation. Not a diary — a structured log of games played, observations made, and design implications drawn. The discipline of writing down what you notice builds the vocabulary you'll need when you're designing under pressure.
The GOLD Framework
Structure each journal entry using four headings:
- G — Game: The title and type. What kind of game is it? What's the core loop?
- O — Observations: What stood out? Specific mechanics, moments, interactions, decisions that caught your attention.
- L — Lessons: Why does it work — or why doesn't it? Connect your observations to design principles or psychological frameworks.
- D — Design Use: How could you apply — or deliberately avoid — this in your own designs?
The framework forces you past surface impressions into analysis. "I liked the trading mechanic" is an observation. GOLD pushes you to explain why the trading mechanic works, what dynamic it creates, and what that tells you about how people respond to negotiation under constraint.
A Worked Example: Tekhenu
Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun is a board game built around Egyptian theology, dice management, and multiple interlocking victory point pathways. Here's what a GOLD entry might look like:
Game: Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun. Engine-building, dice placement, thematic Egyptian setting.
Observations: Long wait times between turns. An overwhelming number of victory point pathways, especially for new players. High cognitive load in the early game.
Lessons: Extended inter-turn wait time kills engagement unless players have meaningful things to do while waiting. Too many scoring systems simultaneously visible to new players creates paralysis rather than strategic thinking. The game's depth is real, but it's front-loaded when it should be progressive.
Design Use: Add between-turn decisions to keep players cognitively present. Introduce victory point pathways progressively — explain two systems in the first session, add more as competence develops. Consider what information players don't need to see at the start in order to make the game more accessible without reducing its depth.
Why This Habit Compounds
A single journal entry is modestly useful. A year of entries is a design resource. You start seeing patterns — mechanics that consistently produce certain dynamics, structures that reliably fail in specific contexts, your own recurring blind spots as a designer. The journal becomes a conversation you're having with yourself across time.
Play more. Write it down. Connect what you notice to why it matters. That's the whole practice.