Nearly two hours of detailed advice for new Kickstarter project creators (video)

Cardboard Edison’s Favorite Tips & Resources - July 2016

This month's roundup of favorite board game design links includes an extensive reference list of game mechanisms, advice for finding work in games, ways that game designs can change player behavior and more.

theory:

• A lengthy glossary of tabletop game mechanics

• Decision-first game design

• 14 ways of reducing analysis paralysis

• Types of player interaction

industry:

• Getting a job in the board game industry (video)

playtesting:

• How to get people interested in playtesting your game

process:

• “Designers, never hesitate to kill your darlings. It might just make your game better.” - Gil Hova

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Cardboard Edison is supported by our patrons on Patreon.

ADVISER: Aaron Vanderbeek

SENIOR INVENTORS: Steven Cole, John du Bois, Richard Durham, Peter C. Hayward, Chris and Kathy Keane (The Drs. Keane), Matthew O’Malley, Marcel Perro

JUNIOR INVENTORS: Ryan Abrams, Luis Lara, Behrooz Shahriari, Aidan Short, Jay Treat

ASSOCIATES: Robert Booth, Doug Levandowski, Aaron Lim, Nathan Miller, Isaias Vallejo, Matt Wolfe

APPRENTICES: Kevin Brusky, Kiva Fecteau, Scott Gottreu, Michael Gray, JR Honeycutt, Scott Martel Jr., Mike Mullins, Marcus Ross, Sean Rumble, Diane Sauer

Lessons learned from designing an abstract game:

http://hyperbolegames.com/2016/07/30/abstract-university/

Considerations when designing a game with a large player count (audio):

http://www.buildingthegamepodcast.com/2016/07/24/episode-217-lotsa-players-and-anime-farming/

The requirement for the August 2016 24 Hour Contest is "wedding":

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1612782/24-hour-contest-august-2016

“It’s not enough to have a cool theme. It’s not enough to have cool mechanisms. Your game lives at the intersection of its theme and its mechanism.”

— Gil Hova

“Designers, never hesitate to kill your darlings. It might just make your game better.”

— Gil Hova

Types of player interaction:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/game-elements-interaction/

Places to promote your board game online:

http://pixygamesuk.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-marketing-guide-links-to-market.html

A game designer's convention packing list:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/a-game-designers-convention-packing-list/

10 ways to market your board game:

http://pixygamesuk.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-marketing-guide-10-ways-to-market.html

How to get people interested in playtesting your game--a Reddit tabletop game designers forum discussion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/4twj4c/how_to_get_people_interested_in_playtesting_your/

A lengthy glossary of tabletop game mechanics:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/4tu27t/tabletop_game_mechanic_list/

Tips for recording the audio of playtesters' feedback:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/taking-audio-feedback/

When to introduce your game to the world--a BoardGameGeek designers forum discussion:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1606181/how-and-when-do-you-introduce-your-game-world

5 tips for a productive playtest session: 

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1606803/5-tips-productive-play-testing-session

Solo testing and getting your gaming group to play your prototype (video)

Getting a job in the board game industry (video)

What makes choices interesting or uninteresting:

http://makethemplay.com/index.php/2016/07/14/creating-interesting-choices-in-your-board-game/

Three types of game development sessions:

http://hyperbolegames.com/2016/07/13/three-development-sessions/