Tips & Resources for Board Game Designers
How to explain your game differently based on the audience: a publisher, a playtester, or a gaming stranger (video)
A discussion of “ludonarrative dissonance,” or a disconnect between a player’s experience and expectations (audio):
http://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-episode-190-diabolus-in-ludica
Different methods for setting your Kickstarter funding goal, your stretch goals, and how many updates to make (audio):
http://theforbiddenlimb.libsyn.com/funding-goal-stretch-goals-and-updates-ep-75
How to put together an online playtesting group (audio):
http://www.boardgamedesignlab.com/creating-an-online-playtesting-group-with-daniel-connie-kazmaier/
On the uses of luck and randomness in games:
https://twitter.com/KevinWilson42/status/1074537529121140736
Holiday Design Contest
Design a game with a holiday theme
Deadline: March 18, 2019
Prizes: The Game Crafter shop credit and more
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/contests/holiday-design-contest
A look at games as systems (video)
Favorite quotes about board game design—a BoardGameGeek designer forum discussion:
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2113010/favorite-game-designer-quotes
“It’s important to remember that sometimes game design is sitting and not actively thinking about the problems you’re trying to solve to allow solutions to bubble to the surface.”
“Try not to conflate harsh feedback with bad faith. Delivery and intent don’t always match. It’s easy to become defensive when feedback becomes brutal and/or adversarial, and that’s okay. You’re human. Decide on the feedback’s actionability later.”
“Do a game for each contest that you can. You don’t have to actually submit your design, you don’t even have to finish it, but spend some time coming up with an idea for every possible contest possible. It will inspire you, not every time, not every contest, but you’re going to be looking at one of them and come up with a great idea that you wouldn’t have had if you weren’t stretching yourself.”
What makes a game “fiddly”? (audio)
How a cognitive effect known as “anchoring and adjustment” can play out in games (audio):
How to attract players at a playtesting event (audio):
“Does working on your most promising game idea feel like too much pressure? Switch to a project you’re less attached to. Ideally something that feels light or “ throwaway.” You’ll worry less about making mistakes, which is a core part of game design.”
“sometimes it’s important to recognize that even though a game feels done it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s deserving of publication. maybe it’s a little too weird. maybe it’s not that accessible thematically. maybe it doesn’t do enough to make it stand out. it’s ok to move on.”
Starting a board game publishing company (audio):
“When designing your files, plan ahead to ensure the largest component within your game is no more than 15mm smaller than your box size!”
“Designing is playtesting. Playtesting is designing.”
How to decide what the simplest playable version of your game is before testing it:
https://www.3dtotalgames.com/finding-the-minimum-viable-game/
