“Rough and fresh is so much better than polished and done-a-million-times.”

— Eric Lang

“We don’t just need to pay attention to how mechanics work together but how they FEEL together.”

— Sarah Shipp

The role of player agency in creating a positive play experience:

https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2020/8/20/what-is-player-agency

Working with publishers, finding inspiration for game design at your table and much more (audio):

https://ninjavspirates.libsyn.com/who-what-why-s23e07-sit-cooper-sit-good-island

Tips on designing party games and also how to get your game out there (audio):

https://ninjavspirates.libsyn.com/who-what-why-s23e06-on-the-count-of-three-draw

Discussion on the high and lows of the dice rolling mechanic (audio):

https://meeplenation.libsyn.com/0331-dice-rolling-games

How to start an online playtesting group:

https://www.dmrcreativegroup.com/post/how-to-start-an-online-game-design-group

Related: We’ve got a list of existing online playtest groups and when they meet:

https://cardboardedison.com/playtest-groups

“Very often your players make the same ‘mistakes’ over and over, and don’t follow the paved paths you laid out. You add more ‘signs’ in the form of icons, text size, placement, whatever - but they keep making that ‘mistake’. EMBRACE THE MISTAKE. If the players think your game should work a certain way, then make it work that way. Lean into it, rather than fight against it.”

— Geoff Engelstein

An introduction to scripting in Tabletop Simulator (video)

Julio Nazario on the best places to find prototype components, programs for organizing your designs, game design contests, publisher information, and more:

http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2020/08/17/rapid-game-making-with-julio-nazario/

Kickstarter’s games team discusses best practices for leading up to a campaign and for after it wraps up (video)

The fun of components plus how one designer took his game from print on demand to signed with a large publisher (audio):

https://indieboardgamedesigners.com/ben-moy/

The benefits of collective board game design and development (audio):

https://www.testcoast.games/2020/08/randy-flynn.html

The first advice any new board game designer should hear:

http://rockmanorgames.com/2020/08/13/advice-for-aspiring-game-designers-and-publishers/

Grant Rodiek discusses his experiences in self-publishing and licensing his games (audio):

https://breakingintoboardgames.libsyn.com/breaking-into-board-games-episode-122-grant-rodiak

Some different ways that wargames approach “sequences of play”—what happens on players’ turns—and how they affect the feel of the game:

https://hollandspiele.com/blogs/hollandazed-thoughts-ideas-and-miscellany/sequences-of-play

Gamers weigh in: What makes a game replayable?

https://twitter.com/MinimumPlayerCt/status/1293317716258910208

Tips for taking extraordinary photos of board games (video):

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2YZA86vsX390VZ8QA2p0Lny3FIreebZ_

Designers discuss if they consider whether a game is “marketable” while working on it:

https://twitter.com/robinwriting/status/1292763911406661638

“Not every game idea is playable. Not every playable game is good. Not every good game is publishable. Not every publishable game is marketable. And not every marketable game will find an audience.”

— Steve Dee