“A mistake many people make is to just ask friends and family to play the game and give them feedback – but that way you’ll never get the harsh criticism you need.”

— Ellie Dix

“For that first prototype, always make the simplest game that you can. And similarly, get your super-simple version prototyped and playtested as quickly as possible. If you have a clunker, you want to find out as quickly as possible and stop wasting time on it. And if you have something that works well, you can find out what direction it needs to move in, in order to find the fun.”

— Robin David

When are gameplay examples needed in a rulebook? A BoardGameGeek designers forum discussion:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2403357/examples-board-games-instructions

Thoughts on how to make solo games more convenient to play:

https://www.bgdf.com/forum/game-creation/design-theory/how-make-solo-games-more-convenient-play

“In my opinion, at its most basic, the secret to success in game design is to make things you like, and then get them in front of other people like yourself.”

— Kevin Wilson

“Anyone who tells you that ‘X isn’t marketable’ or ‘Y is bad design’ is talking out of their hat. ‘X’ can be marketable; it’s a matter of what market you’re looking at. ‘Y’ is bad for some markets and good for others.”

— Tom & Mary Russell

10 things to do at home to become a better Kickstarter creator (video)

“It’s important to listen to what people say about your game because sometimes they have really good ideas on how to make it better. But you also have to know when to listen to negative comments and when to ignore them and trust in your own ideas.”

— Chloe Pritchett, young designer

Board game designers share how they stay on top of new releases and trends in the industry:

https://design100.org/58-keeping-up/#

How the psychological effect known as “loss aversion” shapes players’ decision-making (video)

What to do when you get stuck on a design:

http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2020/04/04/when-you-get-stuck-on-a-game-design/

7 lessons from Monopoly for aspiring board game designers:

https://brandonthegamedev.com/7-lessons-from-monopoly-for-aspiring-board-game-designers/

“Examine your games from every possible angle and edit the rules repeatedly. You want the end result to be as polished and flawless as possible. The time spent doing it can turn a ‘meh’ average game into one with staying power and longer lifespan.”

— Frank DiLorenzo

Board games that evoke emotional reactions—a Twitter board game design discussion:

https://twitter.com/erik_a_sunden/status/1244033981529587712

10 things anyone can do to become a better board game designer (video)

A few words in praise of games that are hard to play well:

https://hollandspiele.com/blogs/hollandazed-thoughts-ideas-and-miscellany/the-game-plays-you

Two ways of designing a board game based on an existing intellectual property (audio):

https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2020/03/23/podcast-episode-70-a-conversation-with-sean-mcdonald-about-making-ip-games/

How to design a COIN wargame (video)

Designing board games to be played over video conference:

http://mrbossdesign.blogspot.com/2020/03/designing-games-for-video-conferencing.html

How the day of the week a Kickstarter campaign is launched affects its outcome:

https://stonemaiergames.com/the-profound-impact-of-launch-day-timing-on-kickstarter/