Advice about playtesting, prototyping and pitching from The Game Crafter’s latest Hall of Fame inductee:

http://news.thegamecrafter.com/post/36668744129/chris-leder-inducted-into-hall-of-fame

What things should a board game publisher consider when setting MSRP?

http://www.quora.com/Board-Games/I-am-publishing-a-game-what-are-some-good-rules-to-apply-when-deciding-on-MSRP

“I advise new game designers not to play a lot of games, but to design a lot of games. If all you ever do is see what other people have wound up with, you can never really understand what they started with and how they got there.”

— James Ernest (@cheapassjames)

James Ernest (@cheapassjames) joins Jennisodes (@Jennisodes) to talk about his design process, advice for new designers, playtesting, publishing and more:

http://www.jennisodes.com/podcasts/cheapass-games/

Ludopolis International Boardgame Design Competition 2013

Deadline: Jan. 13, 2013

Prize: Publication by Portuguese publisher Runadrake

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/889409/ludopolis-international-boardgame-design-contest-2

Colby Dauch of Plaid Hat Games (@PlaidHatGames) and Stephen Buonocore of Stronghold Games (@StrongholdGames) discuss their different paths to success running small board game publishing companies:

http://www.plaidhatgames.com/podcast/70

Caring for your game after release: keeping the community happy:

http://exampleofplay.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/caring-for-your-game-after-release/

Using a spreadsheet to calculate probabilities in dice rolls:

http://www.felsirworld.net/dice-simulation-with-google-docs/

HT The Game Crafter (@TheGameCrafter)

Free dice font:

http://www.ambor.com/public/dice/dice.html

HT Corey Young (@hakubak)

Rob Daviau (@robdaviaugamer) joins the Game Design Round Table podcast to discuss persistence in board games, launching a game company, the design process and more:

http://thegamedesignroundtable.com/2012/11/20/episode-2-memory-innovation-and-being-an-indie/

How best to use a tie breaker, if it’s needed?

The tie breaker shouldn’t be something anyone has to think about. It should be as pre-baked as possible, like a delicious cupcake.

http://hyperbolegames.com/2012/11/19/breaking-the-tie/

A day in the life of a professional board game designer: Matt Hyra of Cryptozoic Entertainment:

http://www.cryptozoic.com/blogs/office-board-game-fun-matt-hyra

Ways of introducing asymmetry in games, by Lewis Pulsipher (@lewpuls):

http://pulsiphergamedesign.blogspot.com/2012/11/looking-at-game-design-in-terms-of-ways.html

Running a small game publishing company: Christopher Badell of “Sentinels of the Multiverse” publisher Greater Than Games (@SentinelsOTM) visits the Ludology podcast:

http://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-episode-44-all-for-one-and-one-for-all

How to Build Tile Cards, by James Ernest (@cheapassjames)

“If you test with only gamers, don’t expect it to ever go to mass market – expect it to be beloved by gamers, and that’s where you’re going to sell it. So you have to figure out ahead of time who the market is that you’re aiming for, and that’s where you test it.”

— Dominic Crapuchettes (@DCrapuchettes) of North Star Games (@NorthStarGames)

Dominic Crapuchettes (@DCrapuchettes) discusses the business side of his company, North Star Games (@NorthStarGames). He touches on market testing, distribution, marketing, partnerships and more:

http://meepletown.com/2012/11/game-designer-publisher-interview-dominic-crapuchettes-part-1/

Lessons in board game design from Pablo Picasso:

http://bdistracted.net/2012/11/17/keep-an-open-mind/

A game inventor’s guide to using social media, by Kim Vandenbroucke (@TheGameAisle):

http://www.thegameaisle.com/inventors-and-social-media/

City Hall designer Michael R. Keller (@vhgames) discusses gut-wrenching decisions, low downtime, juggling multiple projects, market mechanics, humility and more:

“It is valuable to have several games in development simultaneously to avoid getting into a design rut. If one game presents a persistent problem, you can set it aside for a while until inspiration strikes.”

“The first time you think your game is done, you’re wrong. The next hundred times you think that, you’re still wrong.”

“Don’t ever dismiss a playtester’s feedback. You may know your game better than the player, but the player knows what it feels like to play your game better than you do.”

http://bellwethergames.com/featureddesigners/198-michael-keller-interview.html