“Learning to sort the essential from the non-essential is key. You can add all the bells and whistles you want to your design, but if it isn’t fun when boiled down to the core ideas, it isn’t going to be better just because you add more.”

— Jason Kotarski (@jasonkotarski)

Seven principles for making the most of a convention as a designer:

http://exampleofplay.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/make-the-most-of-a-convention-as-a-designer-7-principals/

February 2013 Game Design Showdown - “Class-ic Civilization”

Deadline: Feb 8

Restrictions: Design a civilization-building game that can be played by students through their coursework

http://www.bgdf.com/node/7787

“Make sure it’s fun. A designer can fall into a trap of working on something that the designer thinks is interesting, but that ends up not actually being fun.”

— Michael Iachini (@OnlineDM1) of Clay Crucible Games

“If you don’t have a passion for design, you’ll end up as a game idea generator rather than an actual game designer. You have to be able to actually build prototypes and test them and build new prototypes and test more.”

— Michael Iachini (@OnlineDM1) of Clay Crucible Games

David Heron joins the Board Game Design Round Table podcast to discuss the pros and cons of collectible card games, deck-building games and more:

http://www.buzzsprout.com/7928/75107-12-ccgs-dominion-with-david-heron

Cardboard Edison's Favorite Tips & Resources - January 2013

Once a month, we gather the tips and resources for board game designers that we found the most useful and share them again.

The new year is off to a strong start, with meaty posts about playtesting, the game design process and more, plus great material from a recent unpublished-games festival.

Cartrunk Entertainment’s recent Unpub 3 event yielded a wealth of great advice for designers:

• Choice quotes from designers and publishers at Unpub 3, collected by Daniel Solis
• Video of the designers panel
• Video of the publishers panel

#industry:

• Answers to many of the most common questions that new designers have
• Jason Tagmire discusses why designers need to be jacks of all trades, navigating the publication process and more

#theory:

• An extensive glossary of terms used in board gaming and game design

#process:

• What you can control–and what you can’t–about your games

#playtesting:

• How to solicit better feedback from playtesters–and what to do with it

#licensing:

• “Do every thing you can to have a face-to-face demo. If you believe in your game, this is your best shot and it’s totally worth your time even if rejection comes.” - T.C. Petty III (@puppyshogun)

Hobby Game Designer Compendium, Part I

Nate Straight examines the games of several prominent designers in an attempt to define their individual styles. What separates a “Feld game” from a “Knizia game” or a “Wallace game”?

http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/16583/hobby-game-designer-compendium-part-1-the-great-g

How to use playtesters’ feedback:

http://hyperbolegames.com/2013/01/30/how-to-use-feedback/

A lengthy post from Lewis Pulsipher (@lewspuls) examining player frustration:

http://pulsiphergamedesign.blogspot.com/2013/01/much-of-game-design-is-managing-and.html

A massive post from James Mathe of Minion Games (@MinionGames) covering all aspects of creating, running and fulfilling a board game Kickstarter project:

http://www.jamesmathe.com/kicking-screaming/

Shipping: “the fastest way to go bankrupt on Kickstarter”

http://albinodragon.com/shipping-call-it-the-fastest-bankrupt-kickstarter/

Questions to ask yourself before setting a funding goal for your board game Kickstarter:

http://stonemaiergames.com/2013/01/27/kickstarter-lesson-7-the-funding-goal/

Butter up your playtesters by creating a fun and comfortable environment:

http://bellwethergames.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/208-playtesting-2-buttering-them-up.html

Queen Games “Escape: The Curse of the Temple” Design Contest

Details: design an expansion to Queen’s game Escape

Deadline: Feb. 7, 2013

Prize: possible publication

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/152579/queen-games-escape-the-curse-of-the-temple-design

Game Salute (@GameSalute) is accepting proposals to fill its line of games based on The Princess Bride:

http://gamesalute.com/princess-bride-announcement/

Viticulture co-designer Jamey Stegmaier (@jameystegmaier) joins the Funding the Dream podcast (@FundtheDream) with ideas for attracting Kickstarter backers and forging relationships with them:

http://www.buzzsprout.com/4646/74831-funding-the-dream-ep-116-jamey-stegmaier-viticulture

The Ludology podcast discusses feedback loops:

http://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-episode-48-fun-with-feedback

What types of emotions can board games elicit in players? A BoardGameGeek designers forum discussion:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/920897/boardgames-and-emotions

“Anyone creative can generate an idea. Most designers can cut moderate to bad ideas. Good designers need to cut good ideas, too.”

— Eric Lang (@eric_lang)