---
key: practice/paper-current
type: practice
id: paper-current
lang: en
title: A current on paper
summary: >-
  Preserve the key decision of a digital mechanic in a simple tabletop
  prototype.
updatedAt: '2026-10-20'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/practice/paper-current/'
jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/practice/paper-current.json'
markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/practice/paper-current.md'
aliases: []
tags:
  - Prototyping
sourceIds:
  - source-3e6c21889ae768e0
  - source-6f794a271cd60b9c
sources:
  - id: source-3e6c21889ae768e0
    title: 'Challenges for Game Designers: author website'
    url: 'https://designgames.wordpress.com/'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-6f794a271cd60b9c
    title: 'Challenges for Game Designers: table of contents'
    url: 'https://designgames.wordpress.com/toc/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations:
  - type: practices
    direction: incoming
    label: What this helps you learn
    key: lesson/scope-and-prototype
    title: Scope and a testable prototype
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/lessons/scope-and-prototype/'
    jsonUrl: >-
      https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/lesson/scope-and-prototype.json
    markdownUrl: >-
      https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/lesson/scope-and-prototype.md
  - type: practices
    direction: incoming
    label: What this helps you learn
    key: lesson/level-blockout
    title: 'Blockout: test space before art'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/lessons/level-blockout/'
    jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/lesson/level-blockout.json'
    markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/lesson/level-blockout.md'
  - type: practices
    direction: incoming
    label: What this helps you learn
    key: path/first-prototype
    title: Your first verifiable prototype
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/learn/first-prototype/'
    jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/path/first-prototype.json'
    markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/path/first-prototype.md'
  - type: practices
    direction: incoming
    label: What this helps you learn
    key: path/level-design
    title: Level design
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/learn/level-design/'
    jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/path/level-design.json'
    markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/path/level-design.md'
  - type: uses
    direction: outgoing
    label: Sources in the selection
    key: resource/challenges-for-game-designers
    title: Challenges for Game Designers
    url: >-
      https://gamemechanics.pro/en/resources/#resource-challenges-for-game-designers
    jsonUrl: >-
      https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/resource/challenges-for-game-designers.json
    markdownUrl: >-
      https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/resource/challenges-for-game-designers.md
placements:
  - title: In the original collection
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/practice/#paper-current'
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  topic: prototyping
  level: beginner
  minutes: 60
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Thematic inspiration: Challenges for Game Designers by Brenda Brathwaite and
  Ian Schreiber. These scenarios, constraints and checks are independently
  written around broad game-design learning topics. This is not a translation or
  a sequential retelling of the book exercises.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
---
# A current on paper

id: paper-current
type: practice
key: practice/paper-current
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/practice/paper-current/

Preserve the key decision of a digital mechanic in a simple tabletop prototype.

## Goal

Preserve the key decision of a digital mechanic in a simple tabletop prototype.

## Scenario and materials

A boat crosses a river with moving obstacles. The player chooses between a short dangerous route and a longer calm one. Move this situation onto a grid: the boat and current move in steps, while tokens represent the water state.

Board and pieces

## Constraints

- No screen, timer or facilitator making the player's decisions is needed.
- A game lasts no more than ten turns.
- Before choosing a route, the player sees at least some consequences of the next step.

## Steps

1. Write down the decision you want the adaptation to preserve.
2. Define the order of boat, current and obstacle movement.
3. Play the short and long routes from the same starting state. Clarify the collision rules.

## Deliverable

A board, single-turn rules and a comparison of the two routes.

## Check your work

- Another person can play a turn without extra verbal rules from the designer.
- The routes differ in risk or cost, not just appearance.
- List the feelings of the digital version that the paper prototype cannot test.

## Reflect

Which decision survived the adaptation? What was lost by making time turn-based?

## Connected materials

- What this helps you learn: [Scope and a testable prototype](https://gamemechanics.pro/en/lessons/scope-and-prototype/) (key: lesson/scope-and-prototype)
- What this helps you learn: [Blockout: test space before art](https://gamemechanics.pro/en/lessons/level-blockout/) (key: lesson/level-blockout)
- What this helps you learn: [Your first verifiable prototype](https://gamemechanics.pro/en/learn/first-prototype/) (key: path/first-prototype)
- What this helps you learn: [Level design](https://gamemechanics.pro/en/learn/level-design/) (key: path/level-design)
- Sources in the selection: [Challenges for Game Designers](https://gamemechanics.pro/en/resources/#resource-challenges-for-game-designers) (key: resource/challenges-for-game-designers)

## Sources and provenance

Thematic inspiration: Challenges for Game Designers by Brenda Brathwaite and Ian Schreiber. These scenarios, constraints and checks are independently written around broad game-design learning topics. This is not a translation or a sequential retelling of the book exercises.

- [Challenges for Game Designers: author website](https://designgames.wordpress.com/) (id: source-3e6c21889ae768e0)
- [Challenges for Game Designers: table of contents](https://designgames.wordpress.com/toc/) (id: source-6f794a271cd60b9c)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors