Adam Porter and Rob Fisher, designers of Emberheart, sit down together and reminisce about the much darker origins of the game, challenging moments in development, and a very personal surprise!
Award winning board game designer Adam Porter introduces you to his sixth book for tabletop game designers.
'Adam in Wales: The Game Designer Mindset'' is available worldwide, via Amazon's print on demand service, and as a downloadable PDF from Drive Thru RPG
Use the links below, or IF NOT LISTED BELOW, search on your local Amazon for Adam in Wales: The Game Designer Mindset.
Game design may, or may not, be your full-time occupation. Statistically speaking, it is very likely that it is not.
This motivational book is about the reality of life as a tabletop game designer.
I’ve been working in the board game industry for the last 10 years, with many published games, and chronicling my experiences on my YouTube channel ‘Adam in Wales – Board Game Design’. I’ve become known for my open, honest account of my experiences of designing games, pitching to publishers, negotiating contracts, and my focus on board games as commercial products.
I’m not going to tell you how to make a million by selling games. I’m not going to guarantee that you’ll even get a game published.
This book will tell you the truth about the industry – or at least, provide you with a sincere account of one designer’s experience. The information in these pages will sometimes be challenging, but also affirming. My goal is to encourage you in your game design endeavours, whatever stage you are at in your journey.
This is a book about becoming the kind of person who can sustain a life in design.
Each uplifting chapter describes a host of lessons I've learned about managing my own mindset as a designer.
1. You are not an aspiring designer. You are a designer.
2. There is no win condition. Your only competition is with yourself.
3. If it scares you, it’s worth exploring.
4. Each mechanism asks a question. Your game is the solution.
5. Tom Vasel is not your fiercest critic. You are.
6. Build a community. They will energise you.
7. You are not a pawn. You are a queen (or king).
About the author
Adam Porter is an award winning game designer from the United Kingdom, known for making accessible games suitable for families, and for his popular YouTube channel Adam in Wales where Adam talks candidly about his experiences pitching and licensing games to publishers. Many new designers have looked to Adam for guidance when taking their first steps in the board game industry. Adam's published games include Pikoko, Doodle Rush, Kompromat, Qwuzzle, Zooligans, Thrown, Big Bazar, Happy Hoppers, Ballot Battle, and Zing-a-Zam.
Adam's five previous books are available from Amazon worldwide.
- Adam in Wales: Board Game Designer Journal
- Adam in Wales: Playtesting
- Adam in Wales: Product Design
- Adam in Wales: Getting Published as a Board Game Designer
- Adam in Wales: Legacy - Design Lessons From History's Most Influential Tabletop Games
0:00 Introduction
0:38 Click Bait and Box Bait
9:28 Graphic Design in Games
13:30 Will a Publisher Change my Artwork?
15:24 Emberheart Box Insert
19:01 My co-designer Rob Fisher
22:36 Should I recommend games I've never played?
26:10 Can we draw parallels with the video game industry?
Game Designer Adam Porter (Emberheart, Pikoko, Kompromat, Flip Pick Towers) discusses the year 2025 - his favourite games (including a heavily compromised Top 10), a designer that impressed him, achievements in game design and YouTube, and a wish list for the coming year.
'Adam in Wales: Legacy' is available worldwide, via Amazon's print on demand service, and as an ebook.
Use the links below, or IF NOT LISTED BELOW, search on your local Amazon for Adam in Wales: Legacy.
For five thousand years, people have gathered together to play games. Each of those games has something to teach us; not just about rules, mechanisms, and themes, but also about the business of games, publishing, and achieving lasting success.
Award-winning designer Adam Porter explores the 100 most influential tabletop games in history, from timeless classics like Chess, Go, and Mancala, through mass-market icons such as Monopoly, Connect 4, and The Game of Life, to modern strategy hits like Terraforming Mars, Gloomhaven, and Wingspan.
Each chapter examines a landmark title, uncovering the design choices behind its impact and the lessons today’s creators can draw from it. Whether you’re a designer, player, or student of game design, this book offers inspiration, insight, and actionable advice, derived from the games that shaped the hobby.
About the author
Adam Porter is an award winning game designer from the United Kingdom, known for making accessible games suitable for families, and for his popular YouTube channel Adam in Wales where Adam talks candidly about his experiences pitching and licensing games to publishers. Many new designers have looked to Adam for guidance when taking their first steps in the board game industry. Adam's published games include Pikoko, Doodle Rush, Kompromat, Qwuzzle, Zooligans, Thrown, Big Bazar, Happy Hoppers, Ballot Battle, and Zing-a-Zam.
Adam's four previous books are available from Amazon worldwide.
- Adam in Wales: Board Game Designer Journal
- Adam in Wales: Playtesting
- Adam in Wales: Product Design
- Adam in Wales: Getting Published as a Board Game Designer
0:00 Introduction
2:03 Top 10 of the past 5 years
5:23 Designer Spotlight
6:30 Game Design Update
11:09 Youtube Round-up
13:25 Top 10 Board Games of 2025
29:19 2026 Wishlist
Game Designer Adam Porter (Emberheart, Pikoko, Kompromat, Flip Pick Towers) guides us through 5000 years of board game design, and offers his views on where the industry is heading.
'Adam in Wales: Legacy' is available worldwide, via Amazon's print on demand service, and as an ebook.
Use the links below, or IF NOT LISTED BELOW, search on your local Amazon for Adam in Wales: Legacy.
For five thousand years, people have gathered together to play games. Each of those games has something to teach us; not just about rules, mechanisms, and themes, but also about the business of games, publishing, and achieving lasting success.
Award-winning designer Adam Porter explores the 100 most influential tabletop games in history, from timeless classics like Chess, Go, and Mancala, through mass-market icons such as Monopoly, Connect 4, and The Game of Life, to modern strategy hits like Terraforming Mars, Gloomhaven, and Wingspan.
Each chapter examines a landmark title, uncovering the design choices behind its impact and the lessons today’s creators can draw from it. Whether you’re a designer, player, or student of game design, this book offers inspiration, insight, and actionable advice, derived from the games that shaped the hobby.
About the author
Adam Porter is an award winning game designer from the United Kingdom, known for making accessible games suitable for families, and for his popular YouTube channel Adam in Wales where Adam talks candidly about his experiences pitching and licensing games to publishers. Many new designers have looked to Adam for guidance when taking their first steps in the board game industry. Adam's published games include Pikoko, Doodle Rush, Kompromat, Qwuzzle, Zooligans, Thrown, Big Bazar, Happy Hoppers, Ballot Battle, and Zing-a-Zam.
Adam's four previous books are available from Amazon worldwide.
- Adam in Wales: Board Game Designer Journal
- Adam in Wales: Playtesting
- Adam in Wales: Product Design
- Adam in Wales: Getting Published as a Board Game Designer
0:00 Introduction
2:20 Types of Designers
2:39 Ancient Era
5:00 Medieval Era
7:32 Early Modern Games
8:03 Kriegsspiel
9:45 The Mass Market
16:32 Hobby Games
17:40 German Games
19:05 Avalon Hill
19:38 Dungeons and Dragons
20:22 Games Workshop
22:10 Internet & Video Games
25:05 Fantasy Flight Games
26:08 Board Game Geek
26:43 YouTube Channels
27:32 Kickstarter
28:33 Asmodee
31:32 The Present
32:45 A Saturated Market
33:36 The Video Game Crash
35:24 The Comic Book Bubble
36:40 A Sustainable Future
Place the termite mounds on the empty gameboard. The first playing piece also brings the meerkat into the game:from its position it always looks horizontally and vertically in all four directions - but never over one of the termite mounds!
You cannot place pieces on the spaces it can see! However, a termite mound blocks its line of view and you can place pieces on the spaces behind it.
The playing pieces are placed alternately, the gameboard becomes busier and busier. With each turn the meerkat moves to a new position and the lines of view shift accordingly.
In Surikata, the aim is to place your own pieces strategically in order to block the spaces your opponent needs.
0:00 Introduction
4:48 Playing for a precise outcome
5:12 Survival Games
8:54 Control the Spread
10:53 Tower Defence
13:09 Adam in Wales Legacy
14:39 Pick Up & Deliver
16:26 Automated Opponents
19:24 One Vs All
21:37 Team Games
22:16 Limited Communication
24:51 Alpha Players
26:12 Real Time
28:19 Difficulty Levels
33:19 Individual Powers
34:50 Multi-player Puzzles
37:26 Narrative Games
38:25 Traitor Games
41:27 Semi-Coop Games
43:01 Cooperation in Competitive Games
45:13 Summary for Designers
For five thousand years, people have gathered together to play games. Each of those games has something to teach us; not just about rules, mechanisms, and themes, but also about the business of games, publishing, and achieving lasting success.
Award-winning designer Adam Porter explores the 100 most influential tabletop games in history, from timeless classics like Chess, Go, and Mancala, through mass-market icons such as Monopoly, Connect 4, and The Game of Life, to modern strategy hits like Terraforming Mars, Gloomhaven, and Wingspan.
Each chapter examines a landmark title, uncovering the design choices behind its impact and the lessons today’s creators can draw from it. Whether you’re a designer, player, or student of game design, this book offers inspiration, insight, and actionable advice, derived from the games that shaped the hobby.
About the author
Adam Porter is an award winning game designer from the United Kingdom, known for making accessible games suitable for families, and for his popular YouTube channel Adam in Wales where Adam talks candidly about his experiences pitching and licensing games to publishers. Many new designers have looked to Adam for guidance when taking their first steps in the board game industry. Adam's published games include Pikoko, Doodle Rush, Kompromat, Qwuzzle, Zooligans, Thrown, Big Bazar, Happy Hoppers, Ballot Battle, and Zing-a-Zam.
Adam's four previous books are available from Amazon worldwide.
- Adam in Wales: Board Game Designer Journal
- Adam in Wales: Playtesting
- Adam in Wales: Product Design
- Adam in Wales: Getting Published as a Board Game Designer
0:00 Introduction
0:30 What's the point of making more games?
7:04 Is playing existing games helpful?
11:49 Should first time designers design the game they like to play?
16:47 Re-pitching rejected board games
19:13 Fun is all that matters in playtesting
21:59 Deckbuilders stole their name from TCGs
Playtesting is the heart of game design. Ideas flow thick and fast for many designers, but it is only by getting them on the table in front of players that we see what we have created.
Playtesting is the process by which designers turn ideas into experiences.
This book describes:
- The purpose of playtesting
- Types of playtests
- Protecting your idea
- How many playtests are necessary
- Documenting playtests
- Forms of playtester feedback
... and then goes on to describe 100 questions you should ask during the playtesting process, with a detailed rationale for each of them.
About the author
Adam Porter is an award winning game designer from the United Kingdom, known for making accessible games suitable for families, and for his popular YouTube channel Adam in Wales where Adam talks candidly about his experiences pitching and licensing games to publishers. Many new designers have looked to Adam for guidance when taking their first steps in the board game industry. Adam's published games include Pikoko, Doodle Rush, Kompromat, Qwuzzle, Zooligans, Thrown, Big Bazar, Happy Hoppers, Ballot Battle, and Zing-a-Zam.
Adam's previous book 'Adam in Wales: Board Game Designer Journal' is available as a physical book from Amazon worldwide, or as a download from DriveThruRPG.com