“Being a professional creator means constantly letting discomfort into your life. Learning new tools and techniques, tearing down your creations and building them back up, seeking feedback, pitching, networking - all of these open you up to potential uncomfortable feelings. ”

— Emma Larkins

Game designers share their tips and tricks for writing rules:

http://design100.org/20-rules/

Great tips on finding success on Kickstarter and transitioning to full time as a game designer (audio):

http://breakingintoboardgames.libsyn.com/breaking-into-board-games-episode-94-omari-akil

The broad steps along the path to making a game:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2219261/step-step-what-order

Notes on finding the right complexity level for a game:

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/91241/u-fiddliness

“#gamedesign in 2 steps:
1) Find something that’s fun/interesting to do
2) Build a system that rewards players for doing that
(There’s obviously more to it - endless playtesting, balancing, simplifying, playtesting, and playtesting - but this is game design in its simplest form.)”

— Peter C. Hayward

“Even when focused on testing one game, bring along the prototypes for 1-2 others. Don’t miss out on extra tests. ”

— John Brieger

Notes on “engine building” in games:

http://makethemplay.com/index.php/2019/06/10/engine-building/

How to increase your chances of getting a response when emailing a publisher for the first time:

https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/how-to-contact-a-publisher/

Defining the roles of designer, developer, and playtester:

https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/5877/prototypical

How to make a great second edition of a board game:

https://www.boardgamequest.com/what-makes-a-great-2nd-edition-game/

“Leaning on the same people to test the same game each iteration biases results. Get new perspectives constantly.”

— John Brieger

Hard numbers for mailing-list conversion rates leading up to a Kickstarter:

https://medium.com/@fantastic.factories/how-large-of-a-mailing-list-do-i-need-before-launching-my-kickstarter-4a7f173aaf3a

The importance of cons, networking, game development and contests (audio):

http://breakingintoboardgames.libsyn.com/breaking-into-board-games-episode-95-daniel-newman

What one designer learned from his failed Kickstarter campaign - part 2 (audio):

buzzsprout.com/4646/1052107

Reasons publishers give to reject a game—a Twitter designers discussion:

https://twitter.com/rf_seattle/status/1135951975831429121

“Even if your #gamedesign was perfect (it isn’t), playtesters would still tell you to change things.”

— John Brieger

Tips for making the most of your time (and money) as a game designer at a convention:

https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/going-to-cons-without-going-broke/

A tool for creating hex grids with colors:

https://hex.wtf-games.fr/

Sample use case:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2209522/tool-board-game-prototype

The big three questions you should answer about your game when pitching it: Who are the players? What are they doing? How do they win? (audio)

http://thegamecrafter.libsyn.com/the-big-3-questions-for-pitching-with-the-game-crafter-episode-194