How simple economies develop in many board games, and how they compare with those in RPGs and LARPs:

https://taogaming.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/boardgame-rpg-larp-economies/

Our annual Cardboard Edison Best Practices booklet is jam-packed with articles and interviews covering every step of the board game design process!

In this year’s book, you'll find:

• tips from past winners of the Cardboard Edison Award

• a sample template script for your game’s 5-minute pitch

• designing a game with a multilingual release in mind

• the difference between how designers, developers, and publishers see games

• a board game design checklist

and LOTS more!

Designing a social-deduction game: the basics of the genre, and some pitfalls to avoid:

https://blog.rustbit.com/social-deduction-game-design-fundamentals-a4cbae378005

Lots of free board game icons, for use however you want:

https://kenney.nl/assets/board-game-icons

Looking for a virtual tabletop environment for online playtesting? We just put together a big list of lots of options that are out there:

https://cardboardedison.com/virtual-tabletops

A deep discussion on the various steps it takes to make and sell a board game (video)

Different player counts, the dynamics that tend to emerge at each one, and what it all means for designers:

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/110939/two-us

A short thread about how long it takes a board game to get made, from initial idea to final product, and what to expect as a designer:

https://twitter.com/wisegoldfish/status/1480201267708403712

Notes on the best place to define important terms in your rulebook:

https://twitter.com/SenFoongLim/status/1479577165461135367

Pitching: how to get in front of a board game publisher and how to get them interested in your game (video)

Advice for getting yourself out of a game design slump—a Twitter board game designers discussion:

https://twitter.com/estefaniar88/status/1478619674535284736

Game design is for everyone, but there are still plenty of hurdles that make new designers nervous about jumping in—here are ways of overcoming them (video)

Various ways of measuring a game’s accessibility and inclusiveness:

https://stonemaiergames.com/how-do-you-measure-accessibility/

How to develop more interesting goals for players’ characters, leading to more memorable characters and tighter thematic-mechanical integration:

https://shippboardgames.blogspot.com/2022/01/characters-with-agendas.html

Lots of board game designers discuss working with a co-designer: tips for finding them and working with them:

http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2022/01/03/guest-post-codesigners/

Board game designers and publishers discuss when they use sell sheets:

https://twitter.com/Drawnonward/status/1476269209818525699

When conceiving a new game idea, here are nine things to keep in mind to help the process run more smoothly (video)

Common pitfalls that new board game designers often fall into—and how to avoid them:

http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2021/12/27/common-designer-pitfalls/

Rare game mechanics: rondels, hidden actions, error handling, alliances, joint victories, information economy, and more (video)

“Heuristics for creating best-of-breed game rulebooks:

• blind playtest a TON
• test with folks who don’t read rules or play games
• be in the room, observing each test
• treat layout, pictures, and words as one unified piece of exposition”

— Nick Bentley