Tim Broadwater created a concept map for their research project on niche tabletop role-playing games (RPGs). The map shows core topics like the niche of tabletop RPGs, differences between European and American game design, and why sales of tabletop games are increasing. It also lists sources that discuss issues around identity, socialization, and creativity in tabletop RPGs or provide perspectives on game design and the gaming industry. The map will help Broadwater define their niche for a tabletop RPG, identify relevant skill sets, and consider time/cost viability when designing a niche tabletop RPG.

1. Tim Broadwater | GRDS 761 | Research Project: Part 4 - Final Concept Map
Core Thesis
Niche
Tabletop RPG
European UI
American UX
Context of
Videogames
Graphic
Designers/Visual
Communicators
Why sales are
increasing?
Younger
Gamers
Defining Niche
Tabletop RPGs
RPGs Vs.
Board Games
Mainstream
Vs. Niche
Skill Sets to build
Niche Tabletop RPGs
Design
Research
Heuristic
Design
Phenomenological
Design
Time / Cash
Viability
European
pieces, boards,
tiles, etc.
American
Roleplaying
Socialization
Creativity
Gretchen DeHart
Out of character: issues of identity,
acceptance, and creativity in
tabletop role-playing games
Issues of
Perception
Jennifer Grouling Tabletop Role-Playing Games: Perspectives from
Narrative, Game, and Rhetorical Theory
Andrew Curry Monopoly Killer
Lewis Pulsipher
Game Design: How to Create
Video and Tabletop Games, Start
to Finish
What do
gamers think?
Tim Broadwater
Interview with Arnold Triplett
Stephen Bell
Participatory Behavior in a Pro-
grammed World
Shaun Gallagher
Phenomenology
Essential Facts About the Computer
and Video Game Industry
Four short essays which focus on
contentious issues affecting the
video games industry
Don Norman
Don Norman: 3 Ways Good De-
sign Makes you Happy
Quintin Smith
Boardgame Bootcamp: Board
Gaming’s Golden Age
Quintin Smith
Boardgame Bootcamp: Board
Gaming’s Golden Age
Susana Tosca
More Than a Private Joke: Corss-Media
Parody in Roleplaying Games
List
Examples
Cooperation
/ Conflict
Resolution
- Visceral Processing Level
- Behavioral Processing Level
- Reflective Processing Level
- Extending Cognitive Processes
- Facilitating Cognitive tasks
- Facilitating Performance
- Resurgence of Tabletop Games
- Tabletop Games are Better than
Videogames
- Players Want Socialization
- Videogame Violence
- Videogame Racism
- Videogame Addiction
- Enabling Creative Social Interaction
- Players Use Their Own Abilities
- Coauthoring as a Game
- Players Want Socialization
- Players Don’t Play Online Videogames
With Others
- Niche Tabletop Games Vs. Monopoly
- Process of Designing a Game
- Tabletop as a Hybrid Game
- Tabletop Games are Active
Entertainment
- Tabletop Equals Creativity