“Player incentive and motivation concerns are a huge part of game design. An action in a game can be highly advantageous, but if it doesn’t look advantageous to the players, they won’t try it and will never learn its true value. As a designer, you have to manage the appearance of contingencies as much as the reality of them.”

— Eric B. Vogel

Considering what makes a game element a game-defining one:

http://www.gamesprecipice.com/introduction-to-gdc/

Money and its use in board games:

http://drwictzboardgames.blogspot.com/2014/08/market-mechanic-lecture-money.html

Advice for how to plan out and reveal Kickstarter stretch goals:

http://news.thegamecrafter.com/post/94074995915

Nick Bentley on catchup mechanisms, emergent complexity, goal-oriented design and more:

http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/32438/designer-diary-caught-catchup-or-my-attempt-deep-m

Why you should try to streamline your game:

“Before you say that your game will lose something if you try to streamline it, be reasonably sure that there isn’t a way that will make it easier on your future players and virtually the same when it comes to the feel of the game and the number of options it provides.”

http://nskngames.blogspot.com/2014/08/kiss-your-design.html

9 daily activities to build your Kickstarter fan base:

http://www.buzzsprout.com/4646/194483-9-daily-activitivies-to-build-your-kickstarter-fan-base-with-co-host-jamey-stegmaier-ep-225

How to create a sell sheet to get publishers interested in your game:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/how-to-build-a-sell-sheet-for-your-game/

Adding flavor to your game through rules, art and text:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/adding-flavor-to-your-game/

Basic probability for game designers:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/probability-for-game-designers/

“As a game improves, the fraction of potential modifications which will improve it plummets. It gets to be like looking for water in the Sahara. One characteristic of great game designers, which I try to emulate, is they keep looking longer than everyone else.”

— Nick Bentley

The pros and cons of an “upkeep phase”–think “feed your family” or “paying income”:

http://oakleafgames.wordpress.com/2014/07/28/pros-and-cons-of-an-upkeep-phase

Stonemaier Games is holding a Design Day on Nov. 15, 2014, in St. Louis:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1DLe28bNYmQ3cjnp_sm-R9J_cntN57hOtLdKH2gU5xBA/viewform

When to quit working on a design: “The sooner you can realize that a game isn’t deserving of your time, the sooner you can design one that is!”

http://boardsandbarley.com/2014/08/05/when-to-fold-em-quitting-on-your-designs/

“If you have no patience, you will fail.
You need patience while testing game.
You need patience when improving the game.
You need patience when balancing the game.
You need patience when your first game is released and – believe it or not – not the whole world will praise you.
You need it to give you strength to begin work on your second game. And third. And fourth…”

— Ignacy Trzewiczek

The top six things you need to know about running a Kickstarter project:

http://stonemaiergames.com/the-top-6-things-you-really-need-to-know/

“Anyone wanting to design games should start by playing lots of games. As you play, analyze how the game works. Why is it fun? How does the game handle dramatic tension? How is it balanced?”

— Philip DuBarry

Using online comments to build a brand and fan base:

http://www.buzzsprout.com/4646/192744-ep-223-building-a-crowd-with-comments-guest-jamey-stegmaier

“Play lots of games. The more games you have the more solutions you will have at your fingertips for problems that come up with your designs.”

— Richard Garfield

“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