“A designer should work out what people enjoy about their game and then organise the rules such that achieving victory involves doing the enjoyable thing as early and often as possible.”

— Gregory Carslaw (@3DTotalGames)

The pros and cons of having a diverse portfolio of games, both as a designer and a publisher:

http://nothingsacredgames.com/going-wide/

Game industry veteran Mike Fitzgerald joins the Something From Nothing vidcast to offer advice for designers

Free tools for tabletop game designers:

http://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/2pdcqj/what_tools_are_available_for_free_to_design/

Mapped endgames done right and done wrong:

http://lawofgamedesign.com/2014/12/15/theory-mapped-endgames

Everything a Kickstarter creator needs to know about trademark law:

http://stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter-lesson-131-everything-a-kickstarter-creator-needs-to-know-about-trademark-law/

Bruno Cathala discusses scientific game design, creating stories in players’ minds, and more:

http://bluepegpinkpeg.com/2014/12/10/the-seventh-peg-episode-13-bruno-cathala/

The Impressions vidcast discusses getting into distribution amid heavy competition

Stats on whether BoardGameGeek ads helped one small publisher:

http://www.funhill-games.com/2014/12/how-useful-are-boardgamegeek-ads

Richard Bliss (@RichardBliss) joins the Happy Mitten Games podcast (@HappyMitten) to discuss various aspects of board games on Kickstarter:

http://www.happymittengames.com/46/

Travel Game Design Contest

Deadline: Feb. 28, 2015

Prizes: GeekGold

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1284082/travel-games-contest-1000gg-physical-prizes

Advice for getting through shipping crunch time:

http://stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter-lesson-130-maintaining-peace-during-shipping-season/

“What I have learned over time is to not rely on one strength, and not to have one fixed methodology when designing games. Designing games is not a science where you have a specific method that you always repeat.”

— Reiner Knizia

Reiner Knizia on overdoing your strengths, communicating theme, feeling uncomfortable when designing and more:

http://andhegames.com/how-reiner-knizia-makes-games/

Getting written feedback, playtest forms, evaluating test data, playtesting conventions and more.

Audio: http://theforbiddenlimb.libsyn.com/when-is-your-game-ready-part-2-ep4

“When preparing double-sided card sheets for printing, always omit the frame/border from one side. Duplexing isn’t so precise.”

— Jay Treat (@jtreat3)

Susan McKinley Ross (@ideaduck) on color and tactile game design, writing rules, the development process and more:

http://thegamedesignroundtable.com/2014/12/09/episode-109-susan-mckinley-ross-and-idea-duck/

What to look for in a production proof:

http://playdatenh.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/making-fun-the-production-proof-process

“I think that the process of design is similar to curation. Ideas already exist. Nothing is original. Select what you need from every source.”

— Behrooz Shahriari (@bbshahriari)

“I can’t repeat this often enough: If most players are playing your game incorrectly, blame the game, not them. Don’t correct; observe.”

— Eric Lang (@eric_lang)