The value of having at least one high-quality, eye-catching component:

http://www.stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter-lesson-75-include-at-least-one-must-have-component/

A reminder about not overwhelming players with too many new concepts:

http://hyperbolegames.com/2014/01/08/the-cup-doth-runneth-overeth/

Reiner Knizia (@ReinerKnizia) discusses the process of designing, in a 2007 Q&A session:

http://boardgamebabylon.libsyn.com/bgb-volume-31-q-a-with-reiner-knizia-at-orccon-2007

PolyCon Independent Game Design Prize

Deadline: Feb. 22, 2014

Prize: $500

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1100576/polyprize-game-design-contest-win-s500-to-assist?

The pros and cons of offering exclusive content to Kickstarter backers:

http://www.stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter-faceoff-1-exclusive-content/

Self-promotion for game creators:

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaphKoster/20140102/207962/Selfpromotion_for_game_developers.php

“It should be less about which came first and more about how well integrated theme and mechanic is in the end.”

— Jesse Catron (@ktronod)

“I see a lot of new designers who think game design is idea-driven. It’s not. It’s execution-driven.”

— Gil Hova (@ingredientx)

“As a designer, balancing your ego is an interesting exercise. You need it to navigate chaos, but need to drop it when you find your way.”

— Eric Lang (@eric_lang)

Three ways of prototyping cards

The Impressions Vidcast discusses how to start marketing your gaming company

Board Game Design Forum’s January 2014 Game Design Showdown

Theme: fossil fuels and sustainable energy.

Deadline: Jan. 8, 2014

http://www.bgdf.com/node/13776

Design a game using the Zont Deck card system

Deadline: Jan. 24, 2014

Prizes: 100 GeekGold for first place, 25 for second, 25 for third

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/1085930/card-game-system-design-contest

Suggested reading for tabletop game designers:

http://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1u9j8n/suggested_reading_for_table_top_design/

Ten lessons learned from other Kickstarter projects in 2013:

http://www.stonemaiergames.com/the-top-10-lessons-i-learned-from-other-kickstarter-projects-in-2013/

Alternate ways to get players to quickly learn a new game:

http://hyperbolegames.com/2014/01/02/new-ways-to-teach/

Five steps to balancing a game element:

http://sedjtroll.blogspot.com/2014/01/balancing-game-elements.html

The theme for January’s 24-hour game design contest is “tourism”:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1095782/24-hour-contest-january-2014

Tropes and conventions in game design: When to follow them and when to defy them:

http://www.mostdangerousgamedesign.com/2014/01/defying-conventions.html

Using flowcharts in Excel to map out decision trees:

http://clocksmithgames.com/flowchart-mechanic-design-using-excel/