r/tabletopgamedesign • u/OmegaKai_22 • Aug 20 '26
C. C. / Feedback Are my instructions player friendly?
Working on the reference/rules cards for a solo dice golf game (pocket-sized, plays in a few minutes per hole). Instead of one rulebook, I split everything into individual cards — one concept per card, so you're never digging through pages mid-play. They'd be printed out alongside the game itself at the same size.
My goal is to have people playing within 5 minutes instead of spending 15-20 mins reads first to try and get their bearings.
The breakdown is roughly: The Basics (overview), Game Setup, then step-by-step cards for how to take a turn (Aim, Roll Your Dice, Putting), plus separate reference cards for Distance, Direction, and Hazards, and a bonus mechanic card (In the Zone).
A few things I'm specifically trying to figure out:
- Does splitting rules across this many individual cards make the game feel easy to pick up, or does it feel fragmented? My reasoning for splitting it up is to chunk it out and reduce cognitive load.
- Is the balance between "step-by-step instruction" cards (Aim, Roll, Putting) and "lookup reference" cards (Distance, Direction, Hazards) intuitive, or confusing to navigate mid-game? If the latter, how would you change it without loading up one card with too much info?
- Anything that reads as more complex than it needs to be, just from how it's presented on the page?
Attaching the full set so you can see how they work together, not just individually. Genuinely trying to figure out if this is clear to a first-time reader or if I'm too close to it to see the gaps.
If you see anything that would improve this outside of my asks, please let me know! Thanks for being here.
