Jeffrey D. Allers has posted the text of a lecture he gave some architecture students in Berlin. It’s a solid overview of the history of board games, the current industry, design process, theory and more:
Kickstarter For Board Games 101
The Paper Money podcast covers the basics of how to use Kickstarter to finance a board game:
http://www.purplepawn.com/2012/07/paper-money-65-kickstarter-summer-doldrums/
Lessons on crowdfunding a project, learned from academic study and real-world efforts, on the Funding the Dream podcast:
http://www.buzzsprout.com/4646/53791-funding-the-dream-on-kickstarter-ep-68-go-crowdfund
Hidden depth in games: What is it, how to capture it?
http://hyperbolegames.com/2012/07/16/hidden-depth/
How important is it for a strategy game set in the real world to be factually accurate?
http://paintedwoodencubes.com/2012/07/16/matters-of-fact/
Some Kickstarter stats:
Established publishers, pledge levels and project duration:
http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/11960/kickstarter-qa-with-data-and-a-graph
Kickstarter’s biggest winners, by publisher:
http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/11967/kickstarter-analytics-biggest-winners-by-publisher
Most-funded game mechanics:
http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/11970/kickstarter-analytics-year-gains-and-game-mechanic
Need an artist for your game? Cartrunk Entertainment’s website now lists graphic designers and artists interested in board games:
http://unpub.net/unpub-artists/
The Bamboozle Brothers outline the final step of the publication process on their blog Inspiration to Publication:
Step 33: Promoting Your Game
http://inspirationtopublication.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/step-33-promoting-your-game/
Emergent game design tips from Daniel Cook (@danctheduck):
Every object in the game has both a utility and a cost.
Make as many objects as you can have secondary or tertiary uses via interactions with other objects.
Put the player under pressure (time, resource, space, etc) so that they are always forced to choose between
Loosely couple object interactions using generic interfaces or resources. Objects become generalized tools.
Brett J. Gilbert (@55cards): “Word of the day: Authenticity. The best games require this, I think, more than anything else to succeed. Question: What is it?”
Lukasz M. Pogoda (@LMPogoda): “Unique mix of new and reused ideas, atypical blend of mechanics and theme, a sincere proof a designer tried to deliver something new”
One designer’s path illustrates how much of the board game industry works:
http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/how-a-board-game-is-born-prototyped-and-ultimately-sold-the-story-of-crows
