“Get new playtesters after working on your game a while – if you always use the same playtesters your game will be developed only for experts, not for new players as well – and new players are, if anything, more important to a game.”

— Richard Garfield

“The best advice I could give to designers seeking publication is when pitching your game, don’t forget to sell the publisher on YOU!”

— A.J. Porfirio (@vanrydergames)

A.J. Porfirio of Van Ryder Games (@vanrydergames) discusses designing highly thematic games, the publisher-designer relationship and more:

http://www.mwgames.com/?p=2382

The theme for the August 2014 24-hour contest is “cola”:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1212218/24-hour-contest-august-2014

The Ludology podcast answers questions related to luck in games:

http://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-episode-85-lucky-break

What to expect when working with reviewers:

http://www.bgdf.com/blog/what-i-have-learned-being-reviewed-first-time

A look at deckbuilding games as a genre and related designs:

http://www.mechanics-and-meeples.com/2014/07/28/not-necessarily-a-deckbuilding-design/

18-card microgame contest

Deadline: Oct. 31, 2014

Prizes: GeekGold and possible publication

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1211499/18-card-microgame-contest-pre-start-discussion

A Spiel des Jahres jury member reveals what makes a game worthy of the award:

http://inspirationtopublication.wordpress.com/2014/08/02/what-make-a-game-worth-of-the-sdj-award

Designing a board game around a licensed property: a BoardGameGeek designers forum discussion on the pros and cons:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1209876/licensed-board-games

Board Game Design Forum’s August 2014 Game Design Showdown

Theme: “immortal in time”

Deadline: Aug. 8, 2014

http://www.bgdf.com/forum/game-design/game-design-showdown/gds-august-2014-immortal-time

Protospiel Madison 2014

tgcnews:

The Game Crafter is pleased to announce that we will be bringing Protospiel to Madison, WI October 24-26, 2014. 

This is your chance to show off your prototypes, get feedback from other designers, meet The Game Crafter staff, and pick up lots of free prototyping materials. 

The cost of registration is only $50 for a 3-day pass, or only $25 for a single day. Space is limited, so register today.

Cardboard Edison's Favorite Tips & Resources - July 2014

This month we have an abbreviated roundup of board game design links and lessons. The final week of the month has been taken up by tending to the newest member of Cardboard Edison, our new baby girl Hana May Zinsli! Once our family has settled in, we’ll be back to work gathering the best tips and resources for designers from around the web…

#process:

• How do you know when good is good enough?
• “Set deadlines for your projects and stick to them. Deadlines sharpen the mind and hasten decisions you’ve already really made.” - Grant Rodiek

#playtesting:

• 10 insightful playtest questions
• The Ludology podcast discusses numerous aspects of playtesting with Gil Hova

#industry:

• “When you can look at the needs of the market and not just your own personal tastes, your games go much further.” - Kevin Wilson

#publishing:

• “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

Sign up to receive the Cardboard Edison newsletter, including monthly roundups of board game design tips and resources.

Doing the math before launching a Kickstarter:

http://news.thegamecrafter.com/post/92837165055

Kickstarter lessons learned–“things I’ll never do again”:

http://epicslantpress.com/products/havok-hijinks-lessons-learned/

“Broken is far easier to solve than almost there. In one, your patient’s leg is gone. Easy. In the latter, you have to be House.”

— Grant Rodiek (@HyperboleGrant)

Those who know offer “one piece of advice for a new designer”:

http://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/2bipmf/one_piece_of_advice_from_designers_publishers/

Preparing yourself to run a Kickstarter campaign:

http://news.thegamecrafter.com/post/92641887721/am-i-ready-to-run-a-campaign

Refining your game: using coarse tools or fine tools:

http://boardsandbarley.com/2014/07/23/coarse-vs-fine-editing-your-game/

Matt Leacock (@mleacock) joins The Game Design Round Table (@TGDRT) to discuss designing co-op games, building a franchise, playtesting with video, making a living as a designer and more:

http://thegamedesignroundtable.com/2014/07/22/episode-89-pandemic-with-matt-leacock/