Instead of making a balanced game, why not make a “balanced on average” game? Not convinced? They’re more common than you might think:

http://www.phantomknightgames.com/news/balance-on-average/

Breaking the mold and becoming successful on Patreon and in publishing (audio)

http://www.buildingthegamepodcast.com/episode-457-the-patron-saint-of-punk-rock-games/

A template for a game publisher product catalog:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RNxQd8M7vO1QDbFD1kZXc57Ske0rPuKWGuf_kD3f3do/edit#gid=1541042603

And a video overview for how to use it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3qDXlErLfE

Why a publisher might reject even a good game because they’re “just not feeling it”:

https://hollandspiele.com/blogs/hollandazed-thoughts-ideas-and-miscellany/just-not-feeling-it

Game tempo: How the kind of progress that players make during a game affects the way the game feels (video)

A short thread on why it’s important to focus on your game’s “core loop”:

https://twitter.com/PlayJellybean/status/1367916233853648898

The different kinds of playtesters, and how to interpret their feedback (video)

“You’ve made a game when people have played it.

You’ve made a GOOD game when people want to play it again.

You’ve made a GREAT game when people tell stories about playing it to their friends.”

— Omari Akil

Where to look for innovative game ideas? Consider players’ roles, goals, and struggles:

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/115170/feels-familiar

What makes a good Kickstarter video, and what’s a turn-off? A Twitter board game discussion:

https://twitter.com/Dravvin/status/1367204591440457733

All sorts of things you can do with dice in games:

https://twitter.com/al_cannon/status/1366377363802578944

Tips for running virtual playtests (video)

What’s the best way to prototype custom dice? A Twitter board game designers discussion:

https://twitter.com/playnyctophobia/status/1365884829590519808

Advice for co-designing games, with an emphasis on the social and emotional aspects of it (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q5gH7of8I8

A step-by-step guide to creating and running a Facebook group for your board game:

https://crowdfundingnerds.com/board-game-facebook-group-guide/

McDie is a node-based visual tool for developing models of dice probabilities:

https://gengelstein.itch.io/mcdie

Some common goals you might have for a given playtest, and questions to ask to get the feedback you need for it:

http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2021/02/25/playtesting-goals/

Board game designers share the lessons they learned from their early designs:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2607423/lessons-your-first-designs

A look at the different ways that games occupy players’ attention:

http://www.phantomknightgames.com/news/board-games-and-the-attention-economy/

The importance of game design contests (audio)

https://tenminutedesignchat.podbean.com/e/episode-3-contests/