“Games are better if they hold up to competitive play, but they MUST hold up to non-competitive play. Don’t allow your game to drag on or fall apart if players don’t pursue victory as aggressively as you expected them to.”

— Seth Jaffee

“Don’t automatically conflate a game’s set-up variability with its replayability. After all, based on centuries of evidence, Go and Chess are the most replayable board games. Instead realize that a game’s replayability often results from the variability within its players.”

— W. Eric Martin

“Ideas are a dime a dozen & mean nothing if the work isn’t put in to actually make a game out of it.”

— Jason Dinger

Tips for making board game content as a game designer:

http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2020/09/07/designing-and-content-creation/

Lots of advice for pitching to publishers, plus answers to questions about playtesting and the game design process (video)

More tips for making the most of your game design time, whether you’re working solo or with a team:

http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2020/04/21/maximize-game-design-time-part-2/

see also: http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2020/04/16/maximizing-your-game-design-time-part-1/

Designing games that use real-world economic principles:

https://www.boardgamingwitheducation.com/drwictz/

How to let go in game design: identifying and eliminating bloat from your game (video)

Step-by-step instructions for how to relaunch a failed Kickstarter campaign:

https://www.backerkit.com/blog/failed-kickstarter

Reminders for what to do when you’re ready to order a print run for your board game:

https://brandonthegamedev.com/how-to-order-a-print-run-for-your-board-game-kickstarter/

A wide-ranging conversation about the physicality of games: how game pieces feel, table presence, cost, functionality, and more:

http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2020/08/31/the-physicality-of-games-with-daniel-zayas/

“The Well-Tempered Theme”: A look into the ways in which a game’s theme and mechanics interact to affect the player’s experience (video):

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/717118192

Tips for designing in a virtual world (audio):

http://gdofnc.buzzsprout.com/48513/5050202-episode-63-designing-in-a-virtual-world

Just like there are multiple paths to victory in a game, there are multiple ways to find success in this industry (audio):

https://indieboardgamedesigners.com/ta-te-wu/

T.C. Petty III discusses board game development and how developers work with designers (video)

Recommended games for designers to play—a Twitter game design discussion:

https://twitter.com/sumfatkid/status/1299065110569381888

“I see over a thousand game concepts every year and you must make yours stand out. What’s most important is the game itself; the exciting new game play or game mechanism. So, show me a prototype that brings this to life!”

— Tanya Thompson, Hasbro's head of acquisition for games

Playtesters share what gets them to sit down and play a prototype:

https://twitter.com/BreakMyGameG/status/1298260766039003140

Pointers for identifying colonialist tropes in your games and coming up with alternatives:

http://www.phantomknightgames.com/news/decolonizing-your-board-game-design/

Lots of advice for working with board game reviewers:

http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2020/08/24/working-with-content-creators/