Designers’ Desires: How to get what you want out of a board game licensing contract

Jamey Stegmaier (@jameystegmaier) discusses Kickstarter, game content, designing for first-time players and more on the Game Design Round Table (@TGDRT):

http://thegamedesignroundtable.com/2015/05/22/episode-125-stonemaier-games-and-scythe-with-jamey-stegmaier/

Reiner Knizia (@ReinerKnizia) on making salable games, working with publishers, designing for two players and more:

http://matthewgravelyn.com/designer-interview-reiner-knizia/

“Designs can start from so many different places: mechanics, theme, audience, format, components, experience. But none of these things are optional and the earlier you start thinking about all of them, and how your game will blend them into a cohesive whole, the better each individual piece will be, to say nothing of the whole.”

— Jay Treat (@jtreat3)

Jay Treat (@jtreat3) on playtesting, forgetting your ego, design starting points, player joy and more:

http://goforthandgame.com/2015/05/25/because-she-weighs-the-same-as-a-duck-a-conversation-with-jay-treat-about-cunning-folk/

Ways to make a board game A.I. mimic human behavior and emotions:

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/42313/what-if-game-could-hate-you-answering-high-flying

The Building the Game podcast (@PodcastBTG) offers lots of advice for writing a good rulebook:

http://www.buildingthegamepodcast.com/2015/05/24/episode-156-rippin-rules-and-robbin-forts/

Designing with Kickstarter in mind:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/designing-for-kickstarter/

Should game designs require honesty from players? A Reddit tabletop game designers forum discussion:

http://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/36mer3/how_much_honesty_should_be_demanded_in_card_games/

Data and tips for designing two-player games:

http://matthewgravelyn.com/board-games-party-of-two/

The Plaid Hat Podcast on how to playtest:

http://www.plaidhatgames.com/podcast/175

“Don’t attack design problems one at a time. Consider pairs together. Use one problem to solve another. For max combo points.”

— Jay Treat (@jtreat3)

What to do when you learn about another game in development that’s similar to yours:

http://stonemaiergames.com/whose-name-is-it-anyway-a-guest-post-from-the-creator-of-cauldron/

Writing rules for brevity:

http://www.3dtotalgames.com/the-simplest-rule/

Where to find free sources of fonts, stock photos, graphics and more:

http://makerbook.net/

Useful links for creating a sell sheet:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1372710/helpful-sell-sheet-links

“You can never playtest enough. If you think you are done, you are not. Playtest some more.”

— Jon Gilmour (@JonGilmour)

An overview of different psychological profiles of game players, and how to adapt your design accordingly:

http://whoseturnisitanyway.com/design-player-psychographic-profiles-part-1/

Scott Almes (@Scott_Almes) offers a cornucopia of advice about everything from playtesting to prototyping to pitching to the design process and more:

http://theinquisitivemeeple.com/2015/05/15/designing-meeples-with-scott-almes

“When you do have time, spend it on projects that have the highest potential. Time is your greatest resource… so you want to get the most out of it.”

— Scott Almes (@Scott_Almes)