Making a board game: the process

From the first sketch of the map to a 60 × 90 cm board: how the world of Kaladorn is put on the table.

The Kaladorn board: a hand-painted map with a lava river, forests and frozen mountains.

Every board game starts as a pile of paper. Kaladorn started as a map: a continent split by a river of lava, with frozen mountains in the north and deserts in the south.

The map

The board is 60 × 90 cm, divided into hexes. Areas such as the Forgotten Ruins or the Swamps of the Dead are groups of hexes with their own rules, and quests send heroes across them.

Time on the border

The border of the board doubles as a time track. Each round the active player rolls a die and moves the golden sun that many days; marked days trigger events for everyone.

In the next diaries: the components, the first playtests, and what changed because of them.