“As a game designer, you need to worry a lot about the costs of various components because those costs can spell the difference between success and failure of a commercial game release.”

— Philip Reed

Why component costs are important to the art of game design:

http://www.battlegrip.com/?p=61084

“Beware scope creep. Focus on delivering an excellent and concise experience. There’s always the next game to deliver your other cool idea.”

— Eric Lang (@eric_lang)

Eight common mistakes that lead to failed Kickstarter campaigns:

http://www.polyhedroncollider.com/2014/07/your-kickstarter-is-rubbish.html

Using Amazon Fulfillment to ship your Kickstarter project:

http://gameswithoutstrings.wordpress.com/2014/07/16/using-amazon-fulfillment-to-ship-your-kickstarter-product-part-1-of-4/

James Ernest (@cheapassjames) on Kickstarter: ads, art, earnings and more:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/kickstarter-questions-with-james-ernest/

“When the Kickstarter marketplace tells you that your project isn’t interesting, you should believe them. This is so much better than printing a game and then figuring out that you can’t sell it!”

— James Ernest (@cheapassjames)

The Game Design Round Table discusses open and hidden information in games:

http://thegamedesignroundtable.com/2014/07/15/episode-88-what-you-dont-know-can-hurt-you/

How to determine whether your game is a good fit for Kickstarter:

http://news.thegamecrafter.com/post/91958856549/is-my-game-good-to-kickstart

“Players who don’t understand your game may be uncomfortable admitting that in a group setting. But these players can offer some of the most valuable feedback to help improve your game, so it is worth following up with people one-on-one.”

— David Chott (@3haresgames)

A way of looking at board games as the fusion of theme, players, rules and components:

http://www.big-game-theory.com/2014/07/towards-grand-unified-theory-of.html

Something From Nothing discusses working with publishers: timelines, development, graphic design and more

Stonemaier Games shares its top 10 lessons from the Treasure Chest Kickstarter campaign:

http://stonemaiergames.com/top-10-lessons-learned-and-data-points-from-the-treasure-chest-kickstarter/

Colby Dauch of Plaid Hat Games (@PlaidHatGames) joins the Happy Mitten Games podcast (@HappyMitten) to discuss managing playtesters, working with licensed intellectual property, balancing life and work at a small publishing company and more:

http://www.happymittengames.com/36/

The Ludology podcast discusses numerous aspects of playtesting with Gil Hova (@gilhova):

http://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-episode-84-the-playtests-the-thing-0

Academy Games’ Uwe Eickert on the dopamine cycle in games, computer vs board games and more:

http://grogheads.com/?p=5401

“You need to make sure that you have built in “days off” from the [Kickstarter] project. If you work for 23 days straight, you’ll go insane.”

— Doug Levandowski (@meltdowngames)

“If you don’t like making your work more marketable, you’re not a designer, you’re an artist.”

— Rob Daviau (@robdaviaugamer)

2014 Dice Game Design Contest

Deadline: Sept. 30, 2014

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1200168/2014-dice-game-design-contest

The role of playtesting in determining players’ expectations, balance, thematic fit and more:

http://www.gamesprecipice.com/role-of-playtesting/