UX/UI & Board Games, Ep. 10: The UI is Not the Whole Game

Some games look incredible out of the box.

Sculpted minis. Shiny cards. Gorgeous art.

Then you play, and it feels like someone mixed poker with tax law. Beautiful, and unplayable.

Meanwhile an indie game with plain tokens keeps hitting the table, because it just plays better.

Looks pull you to the table. The experience keeps you there.

Same in design. People do not only look at screens, they move through them. UI is important, but what sticks is how the thing behaves and how it feels to use.

So let’s design for what lasts:

🎯 Clear feedback beats pretty hover states

🧩 Intuitive flows outlive trendy typefaces

🧭 Recovery paths matter as much as happy paths

⚙️ Systems that work beat screens that wow and confuse

🗣 Plain language and good names reduce hesitation

⏱ Small, fast responses feel better than slow, flashy ones

Strong design is not only on the surface.

You feel it in the lack of friction. Just like a good game, you know it is working when people keep coming back to play. Read this on LinkedIn