The Final Touches

Croc is now taped into his chair. Starting at the original rules, he now has to pull out a clear, unambiguous version, so that the game plays smoothly. He will add extras, more meat, and create a thematic framework that may not interest everyone, but will definitely add some flavor to the game.

Once this phase of writing is complete, and after several rounds of re-checks and proofreading, this valuable document will make its way into the hands of the graphic designers. Here, Bouly works on models and layouts under the watchful eye of Philippe and Croc. During this phase, many of the visuals are included, accompanying and emphasizing boxes, examples and other descriptive text.

Finally, the rules go to correction, before moving on to translation, and finally to the internet. Now you can download the rules, right HERE!

But we're not done yet. The rules land back with Adeline. She'll work over the rules, bringing out a single paragraph, which will be presented on the back of the box to give readers a general idea of the game inside.

This is an important and complicated step, because the text has to make people want to buy the game. People who will (lucky for us) feel compelled to take the box off the shelf and examine it from every angle (you know you do that).

Speaking of shelves, how do we release the game to stores? We use something that is one of the (many) major parts of development – coverage.

Divinare belongs to the same range of games as Mundus Novus. Simply put, it is a smart card game with tactics. Our first priority, then, is to make it fit with the rest of the range. That's what marketing around here calls 'branding.'

Besides the box format, branding determines the placement of logos, the game title, pictograms depicting the number of players and age and length of the game, the description on the back of the box, and some graphics tricks that we just put in there because they look good (like the oval shape in the top left of the title, for instance).

Now we start getting the first ideas for the cover. What do we feature? The characters? Divination? Thus we start to get the first ideas and proposals as the ecstatic crowd cheers us one – then all those ideas are rejected with jeers from the same crowd. They're so fickle.

We keep throwing out ideas, showing concepts, and we see a lot that aren't bad – but none that are just what we want.

Then comes the moment of illumination. The theme of Divinare is a contest of divination. Why not show the poster for this imaginary competition? Bingo! This is an idea that feeds off the theme of the game and helps to create the visuals to make Divinare immersive.

After further brainstorming sessions, we decided to create a post in a very 'XIX' style, slightly damaged, something that could have been torn and hastily placed on a wooden fence bordering a vacant lot in Victorian London.

And here is the final version of the game, the one you'll see in stores:

Divinare, a game of which we are quite proud.

By Brett J. Gilbert.

For 2-4 players, ages 10+. Duration: about 30 minutes.

And here it is next to Mundus Novus – the next in the series!

Want to read this entire series of articles? Here are some links to the other three parts:

ONE
TWO
THREE