Cardboard Edison
  • Cardboard Edison
  • Houdini's Last Act Quad Squad Cobras Retail Rejects More Games Prototypes
  • Blog Industry Reports Playtest Groups Virtual Tabletops Contests Interviews Game Design Checklist
  • Publisher Directory
  • Tariffs Report
  • Newsletter
  • Podcast
  • Award
Cardboard Edison
  • Cardboard Edison/
  • Our Games/
    • Houdini's Last Act
    • Quad Squad
    • Cobras
    • Retail Rejects
    • More Games
    • Prototypes
  • Free Resources/
    • Blog
    • Industry Reports
    • Playtest Groups
    • Virtual Tabletops
    • Contests
    • Interviews
    • Game Design Checklist
  • Publisher Directory/
  • Tariffs Report/
  • Newsletter/
  • Podcast/
  • Award/
board+game+bits.jpg
Cardboard Edison

Game design & bright ideas for game designers

Bright Ideas

Tips & Resources for Board Game Designers

Cardboard Edison
  • Cardboard Edison/
  • Our Games/
    • Houdini's Last Act
    • Quad Squad
    • Cobras
    • Retail Rejects
    • More Games
    • Prototypes
  • Free Resources/
    • Blog
    • Industry Reports
    • Playtest Groups
    • Virtual Tabletops
    • Contests
    • Interviews
    • Game Design Checklist
  • Publisher Directory/
  • Tariffs Report/
  • Newsletter/
  • Podcast/
  • Award/
featured
theory
playtesting
prototyping
process
rules
licensing
publishing
industry
Bright Ideas RSS

Receive exclusive board game design tips and resources in your inbox by subscribing to our weekly Omnibus newsletter


June 29, 2023 June 29, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

A framework for board game designers and other creatives to set goals and make progress on their projects:

https://www.pinkhawkgames.com/post/stupid-goals

June 29, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

June 24, 2023 June 24, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

The absolute basics of how to make a board game (video):

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

June 24, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
process, playtesting, licensing

Cardboard Edison

June 24, 2023 June 24, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Why you need to stop worrying about protecting your board game idea:

https://www.thedarkimp.com/blog/2023/06/24/why-you-need-to-stop-worrying-about-protecting-your-idea/

June 24, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

June 22, 2023 June 22, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Three easy ways to make your game’s fulfillment more eco-friendly:

https://stonemaiergames.com/3-easy-ways-to-make-game-fulfillment-more-eco-friendly/

June 22, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

June 21, 2023 June 21, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Answers to questions about Kickstarter and how board game makers can best use it to fund their projects (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kNjlnizlTM

June 21, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

June 17, 2023 June 17, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Old Maps Online has lots of historical maps plus tools to edit them:

https://www.oldmapsonline.org/

June 17, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
prototyping

Cardboard Edison

June 17, 2023 June 17, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Designing board games on a budget: How can you make games, test games, and sell them, when you have no money to invest? (video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgl3Ub8m8a0

June 17, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

June 17, 2023 June 17, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

A counter-approach to minimizing “feel bad” moments through design:

https://twitter.com/eric_lang/status/1669389317158862887

June 17, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

June 17, 2023 June 17, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Development: the ambiguities of what can happen to a game design between signing and publication:

https://faidutti.com/blog/blog/2023/06/11/entre-creation-et-edition-les-ambiguites-du-developpement-dun-jeu-between-design-and-publication-the-ambiguities-of-game-development/

June 17, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
licensing

Cardboard Edison

June 10, 2023 June 10, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Why you should design board games (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKLc8n1F6d8

June 10, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

June 10, 2023 June 10, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

10 steps to create a tabletop game company:

https://stonemaiergames.com/10-steps-to-create-a-tabletop-game-company/

June 10, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

June 04, 2023 June 04, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

The designer of Radlands has a website with lots of articles about various aspects of board game design. We’ve pulled out some of the best on design theory:

https://daniel.games/the-depth-complexity-ratio.htm

https://daniel.games/relatability.htm

https://daniel.games/big-moves.htm

https://daniel.games/calculation-vs-intuition.htm

https://daniel.games/ramps.htm

https://daniel.games/interlinking.htm

https://daniel.games/player-interaction.htm

https://daniel.games/work.htm

https://daniel.games/tension.htm

https://daniel.games/feelbad-situations.htm

https://daniel.games/awesome-things.htm

https://daniel.games/types-of-fun.htm

https://daniel.games/accumulation.htm

https://daniel.games/consequential-actions.htm

https://daniel.games/reducing-complexity.htm

https://daniel.games/randomness.htm

https://daniel.games/resources.htm

https://daniel.games/access.htm

https://daniel.games/spatial-systems.htm

https://daniel.games/making-sure-the-game-ends.htm

https://daniel.games/scaling.htm

https://daniel.games/aesthetic-patterns-in-design.htm

June 04, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

June 02, 2023 June 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

One of this year’s Spiel des Jahres nominees offers tips for designing board games that will appeal to mass-market players (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw5Jq7fgSlE

June 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
industry, theory

Cardboard Edison

June 02, 2023 June 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

10 tips for showing off your board game at a convention:

https://thecityofkings.com/news/10-tips-for-conventions/

Actually, make that 20:

https://thecityofkings.com/news/10-more-tips-for-conventions/

June 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

June 02, 2023 June 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

How games can inspire delight in players:

https://www.thedarkimp.com/blog/2023/06/01/designing-games-with-delight/

June 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

May 30, 2023 May 30, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Thoughts on how board game designers can use “Memory Palace” techniques to create better experiences for players:

https://gametek.substack.com/p/method-of-loci

May 30, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

May 27, 2023 May 27, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Lots of advice for up-and-coming board game designers from the design community on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/BreakMyGameG/status/1660711395116163072

May 27, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
process, playtesting, licensing, industry

Cardboard Edison

May 27, 2023 May 27, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Betting and bluffing: games that use the mechanics, how they work, and the kinds of experiences they offer for players (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOK1-wInoSU

May 27, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

May 25, 2023 May 25, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Deck-building games: an overview of how they’ve evolved since Dominion:

https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/05/23/deck-building-a-modern-card-mechanism-topic-discussion/

May 25, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

May 25, 2023 May 25, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Scorekeeping: the tradeoffs that come with various common methods of tracking scores:

http://www.weirdgiraffegames.com/carla/wordpress/2023/05/24/components-for-tracking-scores/

May 25, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

  • Previous
  • Next