The Protospiel playtesting event will be in Houston, March 14-16, 2014:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1074323/announcement-protospiel-in-houston

http://www.protospiel-houston.org/default.asp

Pros and cons of blind auctions: a BoardGameGeek designers forum discussion:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1072465/blind-auction-what-you-like-and-dont-like

Prototyping tip: how to print on blank game cards:

http://onlinedungeonmaster.com/2013/11/22/how-to-print-on-blank-game-cards-prototyping-tips/

Looking at the spectrum of games according to their “choice-feedback response time”:

http://www.mostdangerousgamedesign.com/2013/11/choice-feedback-response-time.html

Ruminations about “magical” numbers in card games:

http://pulsiphergamedesign.blogspot.com/2013/11/ruminations-about-magical-numbers-and.html

Plaid Hat Games (@PlaidHatGames) discusses barriers to entry for non-board gamers, and what designers, publishers and players can do to overcome them:

http://www.plaidhatgames.com/news/311

Writing rules: thoughts on strategy tips and tutorials:

http://boardgameben.com/writing-rules-part-iv-hints-and-handholding/

A couple of sources for free icons for prototypes:

http://ikons.piotrkwiatkowski.co.uk/

http://adamwhitcroft.com/batch/

HT @cheveedodd

Some tactics to make learning board games as easy as learning digital games:

http://nothingsacredgames.com/teaching-games-old-and-new/

A couple of lessons for shipping prototypes to testers:

http://drwictzboardgames.blogspot.com/2013/11/random-lessons-in-prototype-shipping.html

When to playtest your game with “guys who have many ideas”:

http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/25028/about-testing-part-2

Designer Ben Rosset (@BenRosset) on getting it “right,” designing from your passions, balancing depth and accessibility, and more:

http://www.mofbg.co.uk/2013/11/interview-with-ben-rosset-boardgamersask.html

An interview with the creators of Boss Monster, who surpassed $450,000 in post-Kickstarter sales:

http://www.stonemaiergames.com/how-to-generate-450k-in-post-kickstarter-retail-sales-an-interview-with-the-creators-of-boss-monster/

Designers discuss print-and-plays, playtesting, originality in game design, and more on the Something From Nothing vidcast

The Plaid Hat Games crew (@PlaidHatGames) discusses how to delegate responsibilities in a small but growing publishing company:

http://www.plaidhatgames.com/podcast/113

The Ludology podcast discusses the area-majority mechanic:

http://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-episode-69-area-69

What to do when you become sick of your own game–a Reddit tabletop game design forum discussion:

http://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1qerwl/confession_time_im_so_sick_of_my_own_game/

A contrarian view on whether designers should play as many games as possible:

http://pulsiphergamedesign.blogspot.com/2013/11/play-as-many-games-as-you-can-maybe-not.html

How to sell the retail version of your product online post-Kickstarter:

http://www.stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter-lesson-70-how-to-sell-the-retail-version-of-your-product-online-post-kickstarter/

Funding the Dream (@FundtheDream) and Jamey Stegmaier (@jameystegmaier) discuss the impact of stretch goals on manufacturing and fulfilling a Kickstarter project:

http://www.buzzsprout.com/4646/129985-ep-172-co-host-jamey-stegmaier-manufacturing-and-variation