“Get your games out of your head and on the table as quickly as possible. Thinking about (and talking about) game design is fun, but only playtesting is productive.”

— Chip Beauvais (@the_FlyingSheep)

How different meetup groups run their playtest sessions:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1417760/design-meetups-tell-me-about-yours

When a prototype’s graphic design can become an impediment to playtesters:

http://www.3dtotalgames.com/playtesting-graphic-design/

Tips for pitching to publishers, learned from observing dozens of pitches at Gen Con 2015:

http://designingcardboard.com/pitching-to-publishers-tips-from-gencon/

“From a game dev standpoint, when thinking about who your game is most for, it can be enlightening to consider who’d *hate* your game.”

— Jeff Tidball (@jefftidball)

Richard Borg discusses the art of designing war games with mainstream appeal, on Ludology:

http://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-episode-110-the-battle-begins

A new theoretical framework to help make sense of games:

http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/44726/genomic-framework-game-analysis

“Good games aren’t designed, they’re developed.”

— JR Honeycutt (@JayAhre)

2015 Children’s Game Print and Play Design Contest

Design a game for parents to play with young children

Deadline: Nov. 1, 2015

Prizes: GeekGold

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1414982/2015-childrens-game-print-and-play-design-contest

Answers to frequently asked questions about copyright:

http://stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter-lesson-159-everything-a-kickstarter-creator-needs-to-know-about-copyrights/

Key questions to answer very early in the design process:

http://hyperbolegames.com/2015/08/07/the-54-card-guild-2/

Four novel ways to find inspiration for a game design:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/diy-board-game-design-jam/

Answers to frequently asked questions about copyright:

http://stonemaiergames.com/kickstarter-lesson-159-everything-a-kickstarter-creator-needs-to-know-about-copyrights/

The Meeple Syrup show (@MeepleSyrup) offers lots of practical advice for pitching to publishers and navigating a con as a designer

Game design basics, a Reddit Tabletop Game Design forum discussion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/3fqxu9/tips_on_developing_a_game/

Publisher pitching lessons from Gen Con 2015:

http://www.bgdf.com/forum/game-creation/publication/what-i-learned-gencon-2015-pitching-and-promoting

When you should form a business:

http://thegamecrafter.libsyn.com/when-should-you-start-a-business-with-the-game-crafter-episode-30

“No matter how much you think about a game, playtesting is way better! You see problems occur that you couldn’t think about.”

— Adam Daulton (@AdamDaulton)

What to pay attention to in your prototype’s graphic design:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/graphic-design-prototyping-priorities/

A massive post with takeaways from the successful Hocus Kickstarter campaign:

http://hyperbolegames.com/2015/08/03/the-unnecessarily-huge-hocus-post-mortem/