“When you think your rules are done, take another pass. When you think you have the best set of cards, identify your 3 weakest ones and try to replace them. If your mind conjures an alternate mechanic, branch and test.”

— Grant Rodiek (@HerrohGrant)

Lessons learned from the Tuscany Kickstarter:

http://stonemaiergames.com/3-kickstarter-mistakes-we-made-on-tuscanythat-you-can-avoid/

Challenges to making a collectible card game:

http://www.jamesmathe.com/to-ccg-or-not-to-ccg-that-is-the-question/

Alternatives to banning certain player actions:

http://nickbentleygames.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/game-design-tip-prohibit-bans/

“Sometimes, no matter how hard you work on a design, it simply will not come together. It’s okay. We all have those designs. Believe in yourself and keep at it.”

— Kevin G. Nunn (@kgnunn)

Postage calculations for shipping a Kickstarter game overseas:

http://gotgeniusgames.com/kickstarter-topics-5-shipping-a-kickstarter-game-international/

Worker placement games that all designers should play:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/172198/worker-placement-games-every-designer-should-play

One potential pitfall of success:

http://oakleafgames.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/success-as-a-way-to-alienate-new-players/

How to demonstrate to potential backers that your Kickstarter is worth supporting:

http://stonemaiergames.com/how-to-build-backer-allegiance-a-guest-post/

A guide to good rulebook writing:

http://islaythedragon.com/featured/laying-down-the-law-a-guide-to-rulebook-writing/

“The initial spark of creation is easy, the creation of said spark is harder, playtesting is even more difficult, and then iteration is where the time meter spikes and a designer could spend a lifetime trapped in this loop of spending years to make only the tiniest incremental improvements to the game in question. That’s why the reward for “completion” is never worth the effort. because paradoxically, the game is never “complete” in the designer’s eyes.”

— T.C. Petty III

Using familiarity and a sense of purpose to make games more approachable to new players:

http://www.gamesprecipice.com/extending-the-invitation/

Postage calculations for shipping a card game in the U.S.:

http://gotgeniusgames.com/kickstarter-topic-5-shipping-a-kickstarter-card-game-u-s/

Unpub and Protospiel come to the west coast!→

tgcnews:

San Jose, CA will be hosting the first ever joint Unpub and Protospiel event May 9th-11th. It has been several years since a Protospiel was held on the west coast. Designers are encouraged to bring prototype board games to be play tested. Get feedback from other designers and a wide variety of…

The Happy Mitten Podcast (@HappyMitten) talks with designers about finding inspiration, turning ideas into real things, working with publishers and more:

http://www.happymittengames.com/28/

What you should do for 30 minutes after posting a Kickstarter project update:

http://stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter-lesson-90-what-you-should-do-for-30-minutes-after-posting-a-project-update/

When two very similar designs appear at the same time:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/those-bastards-stole-my-game/

What can modern designers learn from the mechanics of classic board games?

http://drwictzboardgames.blogspot.com/2014/04/classic-lecture-series-retrospective.html

Matt Leacock (@mleacock) on raw prototypes, stolen ideas, blind testing and more:

http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/29225/7-questions-for-matt-leacock

How so-called “lazy themes” actually help some games:

http://gil.hova.net/2014/04/05/how-so-called-lazy-themes-actually-help-some-games/