“Sometimes you have to cut your favorite mechanism from a game to make it better. Use it in a different design, new scenery may help.”

— Peter Gousis (@MVPBoardgames)

Cardboard Edison’s Favorite Tips & Resources – March 2015

This month’s roundup of useful board game design links features practical advice for making board games a sustainable endeavor, important reminders about playtesting, notes on a taboo game mechanism and more.

industry:

• Advice for finding work in the board game industry

publishing:

• Preliminary steps to take before moving into board game publishing
• Detailed information for how to request a quote from a manufacturer

playtesting:

• The post hoc fallacy in playtesting: why happy players might not be enjoying your game
• “When designing games there’s no substitute for actual playtesting. It may work perfectly in your head. That’s usually not true in reality.” – Ed Marriott
• “If someone plays your game and says it’s great, insist that they give you one piece of criticism, no matter how small. After disclosing one complaint, many more might follow.” – Chris Gosselin

process:

• “We’re all just making this up as we go along. Experiment with crazy ideas when you’re designing.” – Matt Leacock
• “Pay more attention to the ideas that return to you. They strike a chord for a reason.” – Jay Treat

theory:

• The right way to use player elimination

Cardboard Edison is supported by our patrons on Patreon.

SENIOR INVENTORS: Steven Cole, Richard Durham, Jeff Johnston, Matthew O’Malley, Isaias Vallejo

JUNIOR INVENTORS: Stephen B Davies, Luis Lara, Behrooz Shahriari, Aidan Short, Jay Treat

ASSOCIATES: Robert Booth, Zachery Cook, Doug Levandowski, Nathan Miller, Marcel Perro

APPRENTICE: Gino Brancazio, JR Honeycutt, Brad Price

Ryan Laukat and Alf Seegert offer advice on the design process:

https://anubisnine.wordpress.com/2015/04/01/saltcon-from-a-designers-perspective-part-2-game-design-101/

What to expect from a Protospiel playtesting event:

http://thegamecrafter.libsyn.com/attending-protospiel-events-with-the-game-crafter-episode-12

The theme for the April 2015 24 Hour Contest is “Grey Ghost Of The Himalayas“:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1346900/24-hour-contest-april-2015

How to avoid wasting a publisher’s time when reaching out to them:

http://www.wiltgren.com/2015/04/01/submitting-your-game-101-dont-waste-the-publishers-time/

How to find a publisher that’s a good match for your design–a BoardGameGeek designers forum discussion:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1345896/finding-publisher-how-do-i-find-good-match

Ways to ease a game’s learning curve:

http://matthewgravelyn.com/learning-a-new-game-painful-vs-painless/

A primer for making the best use of BoardGameGeek as a designer:

http://matthewgravelyn.com/utilizing-boardgamegeek/

“Don’t let the permanence of design decisions plague you. There’s always a new project on the horizon for your forever-growing mind muscles!”

— Andrew Federspiel (@KnapsackGames)

Lessons on pitching from Tabletop Deathmatch:

http://danielsolisblog.blogspot.com/2015/03/5-pitching-lessons-from-tabletop.html

“Don’t over complicate your ideas. Maybe you are designing a complicated game, and that’s legit, but be really honest with yourself about whether or not you need all of the elements you’ve included.”

— Heather Wilson

“Just a good concept will not work. The concept and theme are important but be sure you’ve really thought out the game play. Playtest and be open to feedback!”

— Heather O'Neill

What makes a “thematic” game thematic:

http://islaythedragon.com/featured/thematics-knizia-and-evocative-mechanics/

Philip duBarry (@pdubarry) joins the Gaming Careers Podcast to discuss the process of making a board game, from concept to publisher pitch:

http://www.thecompanybard.com/tgc-029-philip-dubarry-homerun-hitting-game-designer-shares-his-process-for-game-creation/

A guide to using public domain and Creative Commons art in your games:

http://www.robindavid.info/2015/03/thepublicdomain.html

What should be in a licensing contract:

http://theforbiddenlimb.com/2015/03/24/publishing-contracts/

SEE ALSO: http://cardboardedison.tumblr.com/tagged/contract-terms

Ways to speed up your design process:

http://hyperbolegames.com/2015/03/24/design-muscle-memory/

The right way to use player elimination:

http://matthewgravelyn.com/designing-for-player-elimination/

“Be careful listening to what play testers say. The most valuable information I get from play testing is from watching the play testers. What part of the game are they having the most fun with? What part are they frustrated with etc. They will show you this in how they play the game.”

— Mike Fitzgerald