Tips & Resources for Board Game Designers
Zev Shlasinger answers a whole lot of questions from board game designers: reaching out to publishers, pitching well, industry trends, working with IPs, solo modes, and lots more (audio):
https://virtualplaytesting.com/2020/07/q-and-a-with-zev-shlesinger-of-wizkids/
Finding the core of your game—Fertessa Alyse on thinking about what you want your game to be, knowing what to cut, working with playtesters, and more:
A nuanced answer to the question of whether you should make your prototype look nice:
How to publish your tabletop game, from how and where to pitch to publishers to self-publishing advice (video)
Are board game designers being asked to do too much? A Twitter game designers discussion:
A pricing calculator for various pledge managers:
http://rockmanorgames.com/2020/07/29/pledge-manager-pricing-calculator/
What games are and how they work: an overview of concepts from the lusory attitude and the magic circle to flow and good-faith players:
https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/107121/what-lusory-attitude
Game mechanics that ruin the game (video)
“make games that you can’t explain with 2 or 3 words because they’ve been too well trod”
“When done well, there is no ‘theme first, mechanism first’. Both enhance each other.”
Sydney Engelstein, director of game development for Stronghold Games, on working with designers, timelines for signing and publishing games, in-house game design, women in the board game industry, solo variants, and more (video)
What three games should every designer play? A Twitter board game design discussion:
https://twitter.com/belltowergames/status/1286389802485587970
Cole and Drew Wehrle on their game design philosophy, the games market, “fun,” and more:
How to spend the first 48 hours after launching a Kickstarter campaign:
https://www.manokentgames.com/post/what-to-do-post-launch-kickstarting-the-easy-way
“Math is only one tool in a boardgame developer’s toolbox, and not the most important one. If you aren’t a big math person, don’t despair. You definitely don’t need to be good at math to make great games.”
How to import game components into Tabletop Simulator (video)
Escape room puzzle design workshop (video)
How to manage a board game’s community on Kickstarter:
https://brandonthegamedev.com/how-to-manage-your-board-game-kickstarter-community/
One designer’s experience pitching to publishers over Zoom and Tabletop Simulator:
https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/104060/tabletop-simulator-zoom-game-design-and-pitching-p
The importance of having an established audience before you launch your Kickstarter campaign (audio):
