“Focus on the big things before focusing on the small things. I often see other game designers focusing on fixing little details when it seems that some of the core ideas need to be changed instead.”

— Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance

“Some testers will try to dominate feedback discussions. You are responsible for ensuring all voices are heard!”

— John Brieger

Four lessons for aspiring designers from Dinosaur Island:

https://brandonthegamedev.com/4-lessons-from-dinosaur-island-for-aspiring-board-game-designers/

Ways of keeping players involved even at high player counts:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2290509/keeping-players-involved-high-player-count

What it’s like working as a full-time freelance board game designer:

https://www.toynews-online.biz/2019/10/10/confessions-of-a-game-designer-an-interview-with-the-prolific-rustan-hakansson/

Things to remember about termination clauses in game licensing contracts:

https://www.thegameaisle.com/chitag-white-paper-termination/

Notes on the value of playtesting done right:

https://twitter.com/sophisaurus_rex/status/1181173931379757057

“Don’t be afraid of big changes at each iteration during early tests. Most board games can’t be A/B tested to completion.”

— John Brieger

How designers approach promoting their games:

https://design100.org/36-promotion/

Price is a major consideration when players decide whether to buy a game or not; here is a discussion on many factors regarding cost (audio):

http://thegamecrafter.libsyn.com/pricing-your-game-at-the-game-crafter-episode-207

“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

Four lessons from Twilight Imperium for aspiring board game designers:

https://brandonthegamedev.com/4-lessons-from-twilight-imperium-for-aspiring-board-game-designers/

How games can be designed to be more engaging for different types of player groups:

http://itbboardgames.com/2019/10/01/leap-of-faith/

“If you don’t enjoy it it’s always going to be a challenge convincing anyone else.”

— James Emmerson

Tips for getting the most out of a playtest:

https://gnomestew.com/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-playtesting/

“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

“Your ability to recognize weak parts of a design develops faster than your ability to fix them. Keep pushing.”

— Andrea Mezz

“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

A guide to abstract strategy games:

https://www.nickbentley.games/abstract-strategy-games-online-guide/

The difference between options and true decisions in a game:

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/94554/options-vs-decisions