The Designer, Indie & Small Publisher’s Guide to Gen Con Indy

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/984519/the-designer-indie-small-publishers-guide-to-gen

Cardboard Edison's Favorite Tips & Resources - May 2013

This month’s roundup of board game design tips features down-to-earth advice for meeting with publishers, some insights into the human brain, a reminder about playtesting (hint: playtest!) and more…

#theory:

• Ten (or so) things every game designer needs to know about people
• How theme and mechanics are more tightly connected than commonly assumed
• “The simpler your design, the fewer decisions you give players, and the more weight each of those decisions needs to carry. It’s challenging.” - Grant Rodiek (@HerrohGrant)

#playtesting:

• “By now you know that you need to playtest, playtest, playtest, but it is worth mentioning again because it is that important.” - Danny Devine (@3ddevine)

#industry:

• Best practices for all levels of the board game industry

#licensing:

• Down-to-earth advice for setting up meetings with publishers

#publishing:

• The On Board Games podcast goes in-depth on planning, running and fulfilling a Kickstarter project
• “Don’t make it all about the money”: making the most of a Kickstarter campaign

#process:

• Two pieces of advice from Matt Worden: (1) Talk with Folks, and (2) Finish Something
• “My most given piece of advice is to start small and get something playable. Make the simplest form of your game playable and try it.” - Chevee Dodd (@cheveedodd)
• “SLOW DOWN. When you have that first idea you think ‘Gosh I am brilliant! This is going to be easy. I will be a millionaire sensation!’ Don’t feel like you have to get a game out the door in a month.” - A.J. Porfirio (@VanRyderGames)
• “Keep going, keep going, keep going! Never stop. If you believe in it, you have to put the work into it. The difference between an idea in your head and product in stores is perseverance.” - Isaac Vega (@IsaacVegaDesign)

The Dice Tower’s Top Ten Tips for Game Designers

The benefits of crappy prototypes:

http://exampleofplay.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/the-benefits-of-crappy-prototypes/

“Keep going, keep going, keep going! Never stop. If you believe in it, you have to put the work into it. The difference between an idea in your head and product in stores is perseverance.”

— City of Remnants designer Isaac Vega (@IsaacVegaDesign)

City of Remnants designer Isaac Vega (@IsaacVegaDesign) discusses process, prototyping, playtesting, perseverance and more:

http://www.plaidhatgames.com/news/250

Tips for setting goals for board game designers and publishers:

http://gameofmarketing.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-do-you-win-importance-of-goals.html

Lessons learned from the Paradise Fallen Kickstarter campaign, by Patrick Nickell of Crash Games (@crash_games):

http://www.stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter-retrospective-2-what-you-can-learn-from-paradise-fallen/

The psychology of loss aversion and how it can be used in board games:

http://www.mechanics-and-meeples.com/2013/05/28/psychology-of-gaming-loss-aversion/

Korea Boardgames Design Contest 2013

Deadline: July 21

Prizes: up to $1000 and possible publication

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/982738/kbg-design-contest-2013-1600s-prize-pool

A look at games that use an action point allowance system:

http://www.islaythedragon.com/2013/05/where-actions-at-guide-to-action-point.html

Several print-and-play board game design contests are running this summer:

http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/19776/pnp-design-contests-for-the-summer-of-2013

IPad apps that can help you design board games: suggestions from the BoardGameGeek designers forum:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/981411/ipad-friendly-apps-for-game-board-designs

Grant Rodiek (@HerrohGrant) on setting design goals, improving your game, randomness, preparing to become a publisher and more:

http://hyperbolegames.com/2013/05/23/2104/

“A design, without testing, is just a hypothesis. Playtesting for me is the scientific aspect that refines the art and creative stuff.”

— Grant Rodiek (@HerrohGrant)

Down-to-earth advice for setting up meetings with publishers, from Chevee Dodd (@cheveedodd):

“Forget about the pitch. Seriously. Just stop. Your number one goal should be to just get to know them, not shove a game in their face.”

http://www.cheveedodd.com/thoughts-networking-earns-pitches.html

Hundreds of links to board game design and publishing resources:

http://spotlightongames.com/list/design.html

Two pieces of advice from Matt Worden (@MattWordenGames): (1) Talk with Folks, and (2) Finish Something:

http://hyperbolegames.com/2013/05/22/freestarter-interviews-matt-worden/

At what point does a good idea become a bad idea? BGDF users discuss how to prevent yourself from injecting too many ideas into a game:

http://www.bgdf.com/node/12430

The Ludology podcast discusses designing licensed games:

http://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-episode-56

SEE ALSO: The Plaid Hat Podcast on licensed games:

http://www.plaidhatgames.com/podcast/83