Historical board games: several designers on how they tackle the more unpleasant aspects of history and decide what to include or leave out:
https://sdhist.com/designer-roundtable-gaming-the-unpleasant/
Tips & Resources for Board Game Designers
Historical board games: several designers on how they tackle the more unpleasant aspects of history and decide what to include or leave out:
https://sdhist.com/designer-roundtable-gaming-the-unpleasant/
Half a dozen board game designers discuss all the various steps of making a game (video):
Trademarks in board games: how they work and what’s involved in applying for one:
How experience with games can lead designers astray, and how the language we use can keep new players out:
How networking can help you get your board game signed with a publisher:
The important difference between inventive and innovative board games:
Seven sources of public-domain artwork for game creators:
https://www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/public-domain-art-resources
A short thread on how creativity works and some simple steps you can take to help generate unique ideas for games:
Thoughts on what players are really asking for when they say they want a balanced game:
What makes some games “easy to pick up”? Thoughts on intuitive and familiar game mechanics:
https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/146509/familiar-vs-intuitive-design-what-makes-board-game
What is interaction? Thoughts on how to define player interaction and some cases that may or may not fit the definition:
Thoughts on how board games can give players rewards of varying size at different points in the game—and why they should:
https://twitter.com/Nick__Bentley/status/1646595532775739394
Horror in board games: why it’s so hard to do well, things that define the genre, and how they map to tabletop games:
https://purplelanterngames.com/2023/04/12/horror-in-tabletop-games-why-horror/
Stuck for an idea on a game design? Here are three tips for helping get your creative juices flowing:
https://www.thedarkimp.com/blog/2023/04/12/how-to-get-ideas/
We talk a lot about what good game design is, but what does good game design do?
https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/146281/i-have-affixation-good-game-design
A rundown of various action systems that give players interesting ways of deciding what to do on their turn (video):
Shiny object syndrome: how it can derail board game designers and a simple step to avoid it:
Thoughts on victory points, how they assign values to things in games, and the sometimes unspoken assumptions that come with those systems of values:
https://shippboardgames.blogspot.com/2023/04/on-victory-points.html
When players ask themselves how valuable a thing or action is in a game, here are some of the considerations that come into play:
https://rericreuss.com/2023/03/31/how-good-is-this-valuation-in-board-games/
Where and how do you playtest your games? A Twitter board game designers discussion: