“No matter how “finished” you think your game is, feedback from a publisher can lead to important improvements even if they ultimately take a pass.”

— Philip duBarry (@pdubarry)

“Make the prototype quickly from anything you can find. Once you have a game, improve the prototype enough to interest playtesters. Once you get a finely-tuned game, make it shine.”

— Philip duBarry (@pdubarry)

Can you design a game in 24 hours? If so, there’s a contest for you:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/807676/24-hour-contest

Three best practices for creating a Risk: Legacy-style game, by Daniel Solis:
 
http://danielsolisblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/three-best-practices-of-risk-legacy.html

“You may have a great track record of quality games, but if you are a pain to deal with, future publishers may pass on your submissions and accept games from less difficult designers.”

— Chevee Dodd (@cheveedodd)

“There’s a lot of information out there, but the best advice that tends to get repeated over and over is this: Design a game you’d like to play.”

— Seth Jaffee (@sedjtroll)

“Your first game will not be your best, so if you have a favorite idea that you’d love to make a game out of, then you might want to save it for after you’ve got the hang of things.”

— Seth Jaffee (@sedjtroll)

Reddit has a small but supportive community of tabletop game designers:
 
http://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/

Is kingmaking a problem that needs to be fixed?

http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/7487/is-kingmaking-in-multiplayer-games-a-problem-that-can-be-fixed

Mechanics that enhance replayability

The Secret Cabal (@thesecretcabal) discuss what aspects of games make them want to play again, starting at about 1:51:00:

http://www.thesecretcabal.com/2012/05/02/episode-17-malifaux-playing-the-table-and-mechanics-that-enhance-replayability/

A few ways to implement secret positioning or secret movement:

http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/7492/how-can-you-have-secret-units-on-the-board

First playtest disaster: The BoardGameGeek designers forums share their trainwreck stories and how to get past them:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/810189/first-playtest-disaster-breathe-deeply

The Toy Industry Association’s “Toy Inventor & Designer Guide” has some general information about how to introduce a new toy or game into the market:
  
http://www.toyassociation.org/AM/PDFs/TIA/TIAToyInventorDesignerGuide2ndEdition.pdf

“As board game designers, we have to make our own magic. But it also means we’re free to.”

— Paul Saxberg, quoted by Gavan Brown (@roosterjuice)

Notes from a game design class using The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design:

http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/10866/1st-game-design-class

“Never give up. Rejection is part of the process.”

— Chevee Dodd (@cheveedodd)

“Failing to trim your game into a lean mean fun machine will almost invariably cost you publication because extra parts make the game more expensive, extra rules make the game less accessible, and the combination makes a game no one wants to take a chance on.”

— Jay Treat (@jtreat3)

“If you are going to design a successful game, you may need to cut one of your favorite aspects of the game, in the interest of flow, pacing, and fun.”

— Clint Herron

The Plaid Hat Games guys discuss their design processes, starting at about 49:00:

http://plaidhatpodcast.libsyn.com/episode-45

How to design an expansion?

Richard Garfield discusses creating his King of Tokyo expansion, as well as playtesting methods and navigating the publishing process, on the Games With Garfield podcast:

http://www.threedonkeys.com/blog/archives/722

SEE ALSO: Lessons learned designing an expansion, by Grant Rodiek (@HerrohGrant)

http://cardboardedison.tumblr.com/post/19177839103/lessons-learned-designing-an-expansion-by