“Play other designers’ prototypes. It exposes you to new design techniques and to new playtesting methods!”

— John Brieger

A tutorial for using the Card-a-mon card prototyping tool:

https://blog.ffff.lt/posts/cardamon-tutorial-01/

“Why are you waiting to make that game idea that is in your head? Get that brain crack out and onto the table. Create something awesome, and then refine it.”

— Jon Gilmour

A roadmap for designers navigating the process of submitting a game to a midsize publisher:

https://www.alderac.com/2019/05/24/the-realities-of-timesizeand-the-hierarchy-of-creativity-at-aeg/

What is a reasonable goal for a first-time board game designer? A BoardGameGeek designers’ forum discussion:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2208240/novice-what-am-i-trying-accomplish-designing-game

“Note what parts of your game initially confuse players, even if they understand them at the end.”

— John Brieger

Templates to help with the layout of your sell sheets:

https://mrbossdesign.blogspot.com/2019/05/sell-sheet-templates.html

Game designers share the advice they wish they had received when they were starting out:

http://design100.org/16-advice/#

“Want to get better at #gamedesign? Put together a regular playtest group. Weekly, fortnightly, monthly - whatever you can commit to doing on a regular basis. You’ll grow better together, improving as a group, and most importantly - you’ll get your game to the table more.”

— Peter C. Hayward

The importance accessibility and diversity in games (audio):

https://playability.fireside.fm/20

What one designer learned from his failed Kickstarter campaign (audio):

https://www.buzzsprout.com/4646/1052106

“Sometimes you just have to “take your medicine” and work on that bad design. Sometimes you have to show people a broken prototype with issues you can’t quite put into words. Sometimes working through a design challenge isn’t pretty.”

— Emma Larkins

“When you make large changes, you need to re-test your game at all of its player counts.”

— John Brieger

A small publisher’s advice for running a Kickstarter campaign and attending conventions:

https://giantbrain.co.uk/2019/05/15/meeting-of-minds-janice-turner-wren-games/

Thoughts on narrative in board games:

https://lestmyopinions.com/2019/05/13/waiter-theres-a-narrative-in-my-board-game/

“If you love designing: participate in contests. If you want to network: participate in contests. A whole spectrum of opportunities become available when you’re able to set aside self-doubt and embrace the fact that you’re a designer capable of greatness. You can do it!”

— Corry Damey

“Every game is its own thing, its own miraculous and impossible creation. It’s a magic trick. It gets easier with time and experience, and you pick up techniques and short-cuts - the craft you can fall back on - but it’s always a process of discovery and iteration and trying things that don’t work until they do. There’s no secret handshake, no special or arcane knowledge.”

— Tom Russell

How one designer unwittingly found a path to major successes in the industry (audio):

http://breakingintoboardgames.libsyn.com/breaking-into-board-games-episode-93-erica-bouyouris

Some really great insight on designing historical games (audio):

http://www.boardgamedesignlab.com/designing-historical-games-with-tom-butler/

A breakdown of some of the different aspects of your game that you should be testing at different stages:

https://twitter.com/sophisaurus_rex/status/1126420175622934529?s=20