“After the initial stages of your design, 1 test with strangers is worth a dozen games against your codesigner / with your design team.”

— John Brieger

Designers share the questions that they like to ask playtesters, and some that they avoid asking:

https://design100.org/43-questions/#

Lessons for board game designers from escape rooms:

https://brandonthegamedev.com/6-reasons-escape-rooms-will-make-you-a-better-board-game-designer/

What makes board game box art both beautiful and functional:

https://brandonthegamedev.com/how-to-make-a-beautiful-board-game-box/

Three simple (but not obvious) tips on playtesting:

https://mojo-nation.com/three-simple-not-obvious-tips-playtesting/

Industry figures say what makes a game a 10/10 for them:

https://tbgd.blog/2019/11/21/whats-a-10-10-game-to-you/

“Falling in love with your ideas is about the daftest thing a game inventor can do.”

— Maureen Hiron

“Take time to review and synthesize your notes at your notes after playtest sessions, before you make changes. It’s shocking how often my instinct when I get home is to just start changing things without really analyzing the feedback.”

— John Brieger

A look at games such as roll-and-writes where all players make use of the same random results:

http://www.kindfortress.com/2019/11/18/design-patterns-random-reactions/

“Don’t defend your #gamedesign, even if players are factually wrong. Capture their experience and reflect on cause.”

— John Brieger

Shelves are small: Ways you can decrease the size and component count of your game:

http://www.phantasiogames.net/2019/11/shelves-are-small.html

How to figure out what’s working in your game, and what isn’t:

https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/how-to-figure-out-whats-working-in-your-game-and-whats-not/

Social issues in game design (audio)

http://www.buildingthegamepodcast.com/2019/11/17/episode-390-social-issues-and-carnival-games/

Considering innovative game design as innovative scoring design:

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/96968/winning-game-design-designing-winning

When offering more decisions to players is bad:

https://remptongames.com/2019/11/16/designing-interesting-decisions-in-games-and-when-not-to/

Musings on hex grids and the poetry of game design:

https://hollandspiele.com/blogs/hollandazed-thoughts-ideas-and-miscellany/the-rhythm-of-hexes-1

An update on how game manufacturing has changed over the past several years and a discussion on the importance of components (audio):

http://ludology.libsyn.com/ludology-211-pandamonium-redux

“One question I try to always ask playtesters is ‘How well do you think the final scores represent your performance?’ It gets players talking about frustrations, strong moments, opacity, varied strategies, and misaligned incentives. The tone they use also represents engagement.”

— Jon Vallerand

Ways of extending a game that’s too short:

https://twitter.com/peterchayward/status/1194679376710897664

Math is hard: Why you should limit the amount of math players must do in your game:

http://www.phantasiogames.net/2019/11/math-is-hard.html