9 tips for writing better rules:

https://www.canva.com/design/DADJroI1kXI/2UKJESZxFiUVI1K1Uw1xTQ/view

“Don’t blame the reader for misreading the rule book. Ask how you can improve the rule book.”

— Dr. Wictz

“A cardinal rule I have for rulebooks: Include sample play/turns. Have those turns include every type of card and common rules interaction.”

— John du Bois

Rules for writing rules (audio):

http://theforbiddenlimb.libsyn.com/rules-for-writing-rules-ep-74

A roundtable discussion about the current state and future of rulebooks (audio):

http://www.thespiel.net/node/1179

“You know what I want in rule book? A brief overview. It doesn’t make sense to me to read what you do each step if I don’t know what the ‘story’ is. It’s like having a bunch of ingredients & going through all the steps & finding out at the end what dish you’re making.”

— @ellalovesbg

Cardboard Edison’s Favorite Tips & Resources - September 2018

In this month's roundup of great board game design links, we have in-depth looks at some game mechanics, advice for writing clearer rulebooks, advice for operating in the industry, and more.

featured:

• Meaningful Decisions: J. Alex Kevern on Design Choices in World’s Fair 1893

• Meaningful Decisions: Benoit Turpin on Design Choices in Welcome To...

theory:

• Worker placement: how it works and how it came to be

• Want to mitigate the effects of output randomness? Risk management could be the answer

rules:

• 10 ways of making your rulebook clearer

industry:

• Tips and tricks for networking in the board game industry (audio)

• How to approach tabletop industry people for advice

process:

• Common mistakes in board game design—a BoardGameGeek designers forum discussion

• “If you want to do something, it’s not important how you start. Just that you start. And then continue. And be willing to change and improve your project.” - Behrooz "Bez" Shahriari

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Cardboard Edison is supported by our patrons on Patreon.

ADVISERS: Rob Greanias, Peter C. Hayward, Aaron Vanderbeek

SENIOR INVENTORS: Steven Cole (Escape Velocity Games), John du Bois, Chris and Kathy Keane (The Drs. Keane), Joshua J. Mills, Marcel Perro, Behrooz "Bez" Shahriari, Shoot Again Games

JUNIOR INVENTORS: Ryan Abrams, Joshua Buergel, Luis Lara, Neil Roberts, Jay Treat

ASSOCIATES: Dark Forest Project, Stephen B. Davies, Adrienne Ezell, Marcus Howell, Thiago Jabuonski, Doug Levandowski, Nathan Miller, Mike Sette, S GO Explore, Matt Wolfe

APPRENTICES: Cardboard Fortress Games, Kiva Fecteau, Guz Forster, Scott Gottreu, Aaron Lim, Scott Martel Jr., James Meyers, The Nerd Nighters, Matthew Nguyen, Marcus Ross, Rosco Schock, VickieGames, Lock Watson, White Wizard Games

10 ways of making your rulebook clearer:

https://opinionatedgamers.com/2018/09/18/ten-tips-for-increasing-rules-clarity-article-by-chris-wray/

“Friendly reminder to credit your playtesters in your rulebooks (within reason of course) or compensate them in some manner. No matter if their feedback is quality or changes your game, they spent their time playing your game and that’s worth something.”

— Danny Capaccio

Cardboard Edison’s Favorite Tips & Resources - August 2018

In this month's roundup of great board game design links, we have our own interview with a giant in the industry, tips for entering--and winning--design contests, advice from a newcomer who's been having a lot of success, and more.

featured:

• Meaningful Decisions: Bruno Cathala on Design Choices in Kingdomino

contests:

• How to win a game design competition (audio)

rules:

• Tips for making your game's rules publisher-ready

licensing:

• The essential elements of pitching your design to a publisher (audio)
• Different ways the development process between designers and publishers can work (audio)

industry:

• Tips for breaking into board game design from an up-and-coming designer (audio)
• Lots of pointers for making a pitch video

process:

• “Every game you design will be better than the last. You will be smarter. You will be better. Don’t be afraid to put a game on a shelf for a year and work on something else. You’ll figure it out when you come back!” - Jonathan Gilmour
• “Goals can be useful in starting designing, but don’t get hung up on them. Follow your game wherever it leads you, even to places you didn’t expect to go.” - Matthew Dunstan

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Cardboard Edison is supported by our patrons on Patreon.

ADVISERS: Rob Greanias, 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, Neil Roberts, Jay Treat

ASSOCIATES: Stephen B Davies, Adrienne Ezell, Marcus Howell, Thiago Jabuonski, Samuel Lees, Doug Levandowski, Nathan Miller, Mike Sette, Matt Wolfe

APPRENTICES: Cardboard Fortress Games, Kiva Fecteau, Guz Forster, Scott Gottreu, Aaron Lim, Scott Martel Jr., James Meyers, The Nerd Nighters, Matthew Nguyen, Marcus Ross, Rosco Schock, VickieGames, Lock Watson, White Wizard Game

Lessons from blind testing a rulebook--how certain formatting encourages players to miss rules:

https://twitter.com/WeirdGiraffes/status/1035213479777591301

Three ways to improve the process of writing and editing rulebooks:

http://joshuayearsley.com/2018/08/09/were-making-rulebooks-all-wrong/

Tips for making your game's rules publisher-ready:

http://faidutti.com/blog/?p=9909

Some unwritten rules of board games, and whether those implicit rules should be made explicit:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2030955/unwritten-rules-gaming

When to write the rules--a Board Game Design Forum discussion:

https://www.bgdf.com/forum/game-creation/design-theory/start-rulebook-first-change-my-mind

A reminder to write rules in the active voice:

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/76421/boardgame-rulebooks-be-active

“Don’t use “thematic” typefaces if they hinder readability. The final rulebook should NOT be less readable than my skeletal beta version that uses Arial or Verdana.”

— Dustin Schwartz

The right and wrong ways of including examples in rulebooks:

https://hollandspiele.com/blogs/hollandazed-thoughts-ideas-and-miscellany/e-g

Advice for writing rulebooks that are understandable, consistent, and usable:

http://www.leagueofgamemakers.com/following-rules-is-hard-writing-rules-is-harder/

“The real danger with making rulebooks is that if the wrong rule is more intuitive than the right one then your players will never open the rulebook again.”

— Eric Yurko