How "liabilities" function in board games:
http://makethemplay.com/index.php/2018/03/05/in-game-economics-liabilities/
Tips & Resources for Board Game Designers
How "liabilities" function in board games:
http://makethemplay.com/index.php/2018/03/05/in-game-economics-liabilities/
How 40 board game creators built their crowd before launching a crowdfunding campaign:
2018 BostonFIG Tabletop Game Design Showcase
A discussion about cooperative play in games (video)
Three pieces of advice for taking feedback from playtesters (video)
A discussion of dice games (video)
The benefits of helping out fellow game makers:
Basic principles of wargame design (video)
This month's roundup of great board game design links and quotes includes thoughtful pieces on design theory, lots of pitching tips, pointers for the process of game design and more.
theory:
licensing:
process:
The importance of pursuing drastically different ideas for a game design (audio)
“Who are you designing your game for? You? Go wild with weird mechanics. Friends? Listen & tune the game to suit them. A publisher? Learn to pitch a product to a business - you’re B2B. The world? It’s a product in the market that you will need to sell.” - Emma Larkins
“You will be one game better at #gamedesign after each game you design. Don’t feel like your early darlings are the best you’ll do. Move on. Design better games.” - Peter C. Hayward
playtesting:
“Negative feedback is a designer’s life blood. Positive feedback feels nice, but doesn’t improve your game. Though it stings initially, you learn to love negative feedback, because your game’s flaws will come out and you want to hear them Before your game goes to press.” - Jay Treat
Cardboard Edison is supported by our patrons on Patreon.
ADVISERS: 421 Creations, Black Letter Games, Peter C. Hayward, Aaron Vanderbeek
SENIOR INVENTORS: Steven Cole, John du Bois, Chris and Kathy Keane (The Drs. Keane), Joshua J. Mills, Marcel Perro, Behrooz Shahriari, Shoot Again Games
JUNIOR INVENTORS: Ryan Abrams, Joshua Buergel, Luis Lara, Aidan Short, Jay Treat
ASSOCIATES: Stephen B Davies, Scot Duvall, Samuel Lees, Doug Levandowski, Nathan Miller, Tony Miller, Neil Roberts, Mike Sette, Kasper Esven Skovgaard, Isaias Vallejo, Matt Wolfe
APPRENTICES: Darren Broad, Cardboard Fortress Games, Kiva Fecteau, Guz Forster, Scott Gottreu, Aaron Lim, Scott Martel Jr., James Meyers, The Nerd Nighters, Matthew Nguyen, Marcus Ross, VickieGames, Lock Watson, White Wizard Games
The requirement for the March 2018 24-hour contest is "rune":
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1949350/24-hour-contest-march-2018
When is it better to use higher-quality components, and when should you keep your costs as low as possible? (audio)
http://thegamecrafter.libsyn.com/quality-components-vs-cost-at-the-game-crafter-episode-164
Advice for working on a game design with a co-designer (audio):
http://www.boardgamedesignlab.com/working-with-a-co-designer-with-jason-mowery-and-chase-williams/
Considerations on game balance and perception vs. reality:
https://medium.com/@fantastic.factories/perception-vs-reality-in-game-design-67181c0e6b0e
How "assets" behave in games:
http://makethemplay.com/index.php/2018/02/26/in-game-economics-assets/
Pros and cons of participating in a playtest yourself:
https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/74179/engage-playtesting-or-not
How games can use a rock-paper-scissors mechanism:
Answers to designers' questions about the board game industry (audio):
http://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-episode-170-questionable-content
“I encourage all designers to be cognizant of what they are looking for out of a playtest, and being upfront with expectations from your playtesters”
“If you are at the point in the design where you know what questions you have about how the game will work, time to stop brainstorming! While many people can reason out how something “might” work the only true way to get the answers is to build & test a rapid prototype.”
Advice for pitching your game design to people who hear a lot of pitches: