“Things can sound good in your head and work well on paper, but you can’t predict if the game will be fun or not until you get something to the table that can be played.”

— Randy Hoyt (@randyhoyt)

The purpose of expansions:

http://boardsandbarley.com/2014/10/21/the-purpose-of-expansions/

Paid and free ways to drive traffic to your Kickstarter:

http://www.albinodragon.com/blog/how-to-get-your-kickstarter-seen-by-the-masses/

“My rule for designing a game is that anything I can take out of the game, I take out, as long as it doesn’t undermine the base part.”

— Alan R. Moon

750 free icons, courtesy of Google:

https://github.com/google/material-design-icons/releases/tag/1.0.0

Unpub Mini San Diego is Nov. 15, 2014:

http://unpubminisd.com

The merits of dice:

http://lawofgamedesign.com/2014/10/20/theory-using-dice-as-a-design-tool

“New game designers underestimate how long their game will take to play. If you think you need 6 tokens, you probably need 3.”

— T.C. Petty III (@PuppyShogun)

“Your current idea is not your last idea. More will come.”

— Daniel Solis (@DanielSolis)

“Working on the first game that you’re serious about self-publishing? Start small. No, smaller. Smaller. Keep going.”

— Daniel Solis (@DanielSolis)

“Don’t make the players keep playing once you’ve figured out what is broken.”

— Donald Dennis (@OnBoardGames)

“Playtest a lot. Get comfortable asking strangers at a game store or convention to play *without* being awkward about it.”

— Daniel Solis (@DanielSolis)

“Play with people who have the capability to break your game. Breaking your game early is gold for a designer.”

— David Short (@dshortdesign)

“All the shortcuts and tricks in the world won’t help you unless you’re actually working on your game. Go work on it!”

— Chris Darden (@cbdarden)

“It’s important as a game designer to find what bothers you in the games people are playing and imagine solutions; that’s vital practice in developing the problem-solving skills you need, but also one of the better sources of inspiration.”

— Jay Treat (@jtreat3)

“Sometimes it’s easier to just go with something and test it rather than toil over numerous design iterations in your head. Get your games on the table! You might be amazed at the results.”

— Ed Marriott (@EdPMarriott)

“There will always be someone who doesn’t like your game. What is important is that the target audience DOES enjoy it. So in a nutshell, know who your audience is and make design decisions with them in mind!”

— A.J. Porfirio (@VanRyderGames)

“Don’t wait for Eureka moment. Just sit on your ass and work as hard as you can. That’s all you need.”

— Ignacy Trzewiczek (@trzewik)

The NPC Cast discusses traitor mechanics:

https://npccast.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/episode-94-traitor-joes/

Ludology analyzes the works of Reiner Knizia:

http://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-episode-90-kniziathon