The role of playtesting in determining players’ expectations, balance, thematic fit and more:
What are the most important elements of a Kickstarter page? Survey says:
http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/how-visitors-view-your-kickstarter-page/
Why you should send your Kickstarter backers an update message in the final days of the campaign:
http://stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter-lesson-108-the-final-60-hours/
How to find playtesters?
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1200104/how-find-playtesters
How to get to 100 playtests:
http://mvpboardgames.blogspot.com/2014/07/dtow-10-play-testing.html
An alternative way of saying no to a Kickstarter backer:
http://stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter-lesson-107-how-to-say-no/
“If lots of players do something wrong in a game, like consistently misinterpreting how a particular mechanic works, then you either have to spend a lot of effort making it really obvious what they should be doing (by producing reminder cards or lots of rules examples), or you can change the game so that what they were doing is correct. The latter course of action is usually better - fighting human nature is not easy.”
“The key to a fun game is interesting meaningful decisions. If you’re making the same decision all the time, you work out the best answer, so to keep things interesting, you generally want a constantly changing situation. And the best way to do that is through interaction with other players.”
Five beginning steps to prepare for a Kickstarter campaign:
http://www.game-o-gami.com/2014/07/02/kickstarter-and-self-publishing-where-do-i-start/
Board Game Design Forum’s July 2014 Game Design Showdown
Restriction: design a game that uses stacking as a main mechanism
Deadline: July 8, 2014
http://www.bgdf.com/forum/game-design/game-design-showdown/gds-july-2014-game-stacked
The theme for the July 2014 24-Hour Contest is “soccer”:
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1195990/24-hour-contest-july-2014
Learning from Zombicide’s success:
http://stonemaiergames.com/learning-from-zombicides-success/
A view of games beyond theme and mechanics: How context is created for players:
http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/theme-vs-mechanics-the-false-dichotomy/
Cardboard Edison's Favorite Tips & Resources - June 2014
/This month’s roundup of useful links and advice for board game designers features a list of what to look for in contracts, a new prototyping tool, reminders about getting started and continuing on, publishing mistakes to avoid and lots more…
- “You are the greatest limitation to your own game design. Be willing to pursue the uncertainty of an idea you didn’t originally consider.” - Alex Harkey (@GamesPrecipice)
- “The key to being a game designer is to design games. Just wishing really hard doesn’t cut the mustard.” - Kevin Wilson (@KevinWilson42)
- “The road to success is a toll road. Our failures are the toll. Accept them and keep always moving forward.” - Kevin G. Nunn (@kgnunn)
- “Game design is a very difficult, long, frustrating, lonely process. Stick with it. Your diligence will pay off.” - Grant Rodiek (@HerrohGrant)
- Recognizing and escaping from “monkey traps”—those ideas you just can’t seem to let go of
- “If you just sit on your idea for 2.4yrs, someone else will publish an identical game. Go make something!” - Corey Young (@C_M_Young)
- 10 Kickstarter mistakes to avoid, from Robert Burke (@robertburke)
- Doug Levandowski (@levzilla) of Meltdown Games (@meltdowngames) joins All Us Geeks (@AllUsGeeks) to discuss getting feedback prior to a Kickstarter launch, recent changes to the platform, marketing and more
- Dominic Crapuchettes of NorthStar Games (@NorthStarGames) joins Ludology to discuss designing party games, dealing with mass-market retailers, starting a game company and more
- Launching on Kickstarter soon? Here’s your to-do list for the final week
