Beyond theme-first and mechanics-first, here are a few more ways to start a board game design:
http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2022/01/31/more-ways-to-start-your-game-designs/
Tips & Resources for Board Game Designers
Beyond theme-first and mechanics-first, here are a few more ways to start a board game design:
http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2022/01/31/more-ways-to-start-your-game-designs/
7 steps to ship and fulfill Kickstarter rewards: getting accurate shipping prices, booking freight, customer service inquiries, and more:
https://www.crowdcrux.com/how-to-ship-fulfill-kickstarter-rewards-7-steps/
Three questions you should ask yourself as you start working on a board game design (video, 14:02-20:20)
Tabletop Playground: an overview of the virtual tabletop software, how it works, and how designers can bring their games to the platform (video)
What bad game design habits are you trying to get better at? A Twitter board game designers discussion:
Lots of board game designers share the lessons they learned in 2021:
http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2022/01/24/guest-post-2021-learnings/
The life and finances of an independent game designer: what it takes to go full-time, how to arrange royalties, and more (video)
Hasbro’s game scout on how to pitch your board game idea to a publisher (video)
Besides playing more games, what advice do you have to be a better game designer? A Twitter game designers discussion:
https://twitter.com/tonymakesgames/status/1484224213212807169
5 publishing pitfalls and how to avoid them: EU shipping, cultural consulting, Kickstarter financial planning, and more:
https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/123599/5-kickstarter-pitfalls-avoid
A short thread with a warning for new board game designers about the “kitchen sink” prototype:
https://twitter.com/AmyDesignsGames/status/1483145652028817418
Screentop.gg: an overview of the virtual tabletop platform, what it’s capable of, how to create a prototype on it, and various tips and tricks (video)
How to learn from and follow up on success after funding a board game on Kickstarter:
https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/learning-from-and-following-up-on-your-kickstarter-success/
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:
Looking for a virtual tabletop environment for online playtesting? We just put together a big list of lots of options that are out there:
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: