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“The best thing you can possibly do to catch a judge’s attention in a design contest is to do something that they haven’t seen before. If your plan is ‘I will do [standard recipe] better than anyone else’, it has to be orders of magnitude better in order to stand out.”
— Mike Mullins
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“If you don’t enjoy it it’s always going to be a challenge convincing anyone else.”
— James Emmerson
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“Don’t forget a card key in your rulebook. Telling me to shuffle something doesn’t help if I can’t figure out what that something is!”
— Brittanie Boe
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“Your ability to recognize weak parts of a design develops faster than your ability to fix them. Keep pushing.”
— Andrea Mezz
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“To be played many times a game needs to show at least a glimmer of its shine in the first game, perhaps even in the very first couple of actions.”
— Rustan Håkansson
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“First versions of games are great for including everything you want. It gives you more raw material to start from, so you can take more away on your way to the final version.”
— Nat Levan
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“Make sure you are changing up which player counts you test at. Don’t over-optimize for a single player count.”
— John Brieger
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“Game designers: test game designs at the idea stage. Meaning: pitch concepts your gamer friends. Ask them to pick their favorites. Wait til they go gaga over one. THEN design a game to fully realize that concept. Reduces the chance you’ll design something no one cares about.”
— Nick Bentley
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“The best feedback is neither positive nor negative. The best feedback is actionable.”
— John Brieger