“If you try to design for EVERYONE, you end up designing something that makes EVERYONE unhappy.”

— Reiner Knizia (@ReinerKnizia)

“This industry is a revolving door. I talked to retailers turned distributors turned designer turned publisher – and the other way around. Everyone dabbles.”

The Plaid Hat Games guys discuss what drives them to design games:

http://plaidhatpodcast.libsyn.com/episode-48

“The best expansions test the limits of a game’s existing nature, rebalancing existing elements, rather than reconstituting the game more completely.”

— Mark Taylor (@woodencubes)

Sample game licensing contract, courtesy of Tom Jolly:

http://www.silcom.com/~tomjolly/contract.htm

Free, simple, intuitive graphic symbols for every occasion, courtesy of The Noun Project:

http://thenounproject.com

Cardboard Edison’s Favorite Tips & Resources – May 2012

Once a month, we round up our favorite new pieces of advice and resources for board game designers. Here are our picks for May 2012:

#theory:

• Ten Exciting Designers Doing Exciting Things
• The Strategy Game Designer’s Constitution
• “Make sure your game has a solid central tension in its core mechanics. The best tension tends to involve other players.” – Spoiled Flush Games
• Gaming for understanding

#process:

• “Iterate, but have a goal. Games can meander for years without one.” – Matt Leacock
• “Push a game’s limits when the game seems fine.” – Olivier Lamontagne
• “If you never make mistakes, you are not working on challenges that move you further. And that’s a BIG mistake.” – Reiner Knizia
• “Don’t pin all your hopes on just one game idea. If you’re creative enough to come up with one game idea, you’re creative enough to come up with a half dozen game ideas.” – Keith Meyers
• “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
• “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
• “Never give up. Rejection is part of the process.” – Chevee Dodd

#licensing:

• Licensing your board game: What is an appropriate royalty percentage?

#publishing:

• Panda Game Manufacturing visits the Ludology podcast to discuss the board game production process

#industry:

• What elements of a game can be legally protected?
• Getting your board game reviewed

“For me, the challenge that board-game design sets before me is to make games that are engaging but streamlined, complex but not complicated: games with high “simplexity.””

— Alf Seegert (@alfseegert)

Tips from a playtester for creating intuitive prototypes and clear rules:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/812173/a-few-thoughts-on-game-design

Designer Diaries on BoardGameGeek are a great resource for new game inventors. They show how published games were conceived, developed and ultimately licensed or self-published. Along the way, the designers often share some lessons they learned through the process.

You can read every BoardGameGeek Designer Diary here:

http://boardgamegeek.com/blogcategory/19

Some suggestions for ways to limit the options in your game without curtailing its depth:
 
http://hyperbolegames.com/2012/06/04/limit-em-good/
 
SEE ALSO:
 
Make a Better Game – Limit the Player
 
http://cardboardedison.tumblr.com/post/20876510726/make-a-better-game-limit-the-player-presenting

Bruno Faidutti’s answers to some of the most common questions from new game designers:

How can I protect my idea and be sure some dishonest game publisher won’t steal it?

Is it useful to pay a professional artist to make a nice looking mock-up of my game?

How can I get in touch with publishers?

Can I submit the same game to more than one publisher?

The publisher wants to give me XX% of his gross sales price. Is it fair?

The publisher wants to change everything, it’s not may game anymore… What can I do?

http://www.faidutti.com/index.php?Module=divers&id=539

“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/