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Cardboard Edison

Game design & bright ideas for game designers

Bright Ideas

Tips & Resources for Board Game Designers

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September 16, 2023 September 16, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

How to make a budget for a crowdfunding project—with a downloadable spreadsheet to help crunch the numbers (video):

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

September 16, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

September 09, 2023 September 09, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Why board game designers should always insist on getting an advance as part of a licensing contract:

https://www.threads.net/@thegameaisle/post/Cw3erslrRnK

more: https://cardboardedison.com/reports

September 09, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
licensing

Cardboard Edison

September 09, 2023 September 09, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Thoughts on best practices for crafting a board game’s pacing, core activity, strategy, and endgame—and how they’re all related:

https://twitter.com/chessandpoker/status/1700210477458923981

September 09, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

September 07, 2023 September 07, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

How to get a game on Board Game Arena:

https://prometheusgamelabs.wordpress.com/2023/08/14/how-a-game-gets-on-board-game-arena/

September 07, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

September 07, 2023 September 07, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Using overlapping turns to reduce player downtime—and some pitfalls of doing so:

https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/09/05/speed-boost-overlapping-turns-in-board-games-topic-discussion/

September 07, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

September 07, 2023 September 07, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Apiary designer Connie Vogelmann shares seven game design lessons learned working on the game:

https://stonemaiergames.com/7-lessons-learned-designing-apiary-by-connie-vogelmann/

September 07, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
process, playtesting, prototyping

Cardboard Edison

September 06, 2023 September 06, 2023/ Cardboard Edison
September 06, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
playtesting

Cardboard Edison

September 06, 2023 September 06, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

12 questions to help identify the next step in development for your tabletop game, or to help you get a wayward design back on track:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1utzo5NWTfT0ov-JGXSujLocgU_9iM4Jop6t7i-FjYA4/edit

via @npcaaron

September 06, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
process, theory

Cardboard Edison

September 06, 2023 September 06, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

How to make game mechanics feel more thematic:

https://shippboardgames.blogspot.com/2023/09/thematic-feeling-mechanisms.html

September 06, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

September 02, 2023 September 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Digital prototyping tools: board game designers share their favorites:

https://bsky.app/profile/peterlmcpherson.bsky.social/post/3k6bbaflhgn2x

September 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
prototyping

Cardboard Edison

September 02, 2023 September 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Pitching your board game to a publisher for the first time: tips from the design community:

https://bsky.app/profile/jimmyff.co.uk/post/3k63gkfue6d2o

September 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
licensing

Cardboard Edison

September 02, 2023 September 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Intelligent cardboard: a history of different approaches to creating AI systems for tabletop games (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9rEIadqGNs

September 02, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

August 26, 2023 August 26, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Content marketing for board games: some ways of using content to drive interest and demand for your games (audio):

https://unboxedmarketingpodcast.podbean.com/e/episode-9-build-content-to-drive-demand/

August 26, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing, podcasts

Cardboard Edison

August 26, 2023 August 26, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Tax considerations for funds raised through crowdfunding:

https://www.fulfillrite.com/blog/are-kickstarter-funds-taxable-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

August 26, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

August 26, 2023 August 26, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Making a game with polyominoes? Here are a bunch of different methods for prototyping the pieces:

https://bsky.app/profile/perpetualploy.bsky.social/post/3k5inx3nnuf2r

August 26, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
prototyping

Cardboard Edison

August 26, 2023 August 26, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Lots of board game designers share their favorite bits of advice for playtesting:

https://bsky.app/profile/peterlmcpherson.bsky.social/post/3k5n7jfjv232v

August 26, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
playtesting

Cardboard Edison

August 23, 2023 August 23, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

An in-depth chat about prototyping and playtesting a board game design, with tips for each (audio):

https://decisionspace.podbean.com/e/playtesting-and-prototyping-this-is-the-podcast-about-the-designing-of-games-%f0%9f%98/

August 23, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
prototyping, playtesting, podcasts

Cardboard Edison

August 19, 2023 August 19, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Why you shouldn’t avoid playtesting, common excuses for delaying testing and why they don’t fly, and finding people you can test with:

https://www.thedarkimp.com/blog/2023/08/16/why-you-shouldnt-avoid-playtesting/

August 19, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
playtesting

Cardboard Edison

August 19, 2023 August 19, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Existing games that new designers can modify to learn about board game design—a Bluesky board game design discussion:

https://bsky.app/profile/ajstichter.bsky.social/post/3k54mmogjfg2e

August 19, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

August 19, 2023 August 19, 2023/ Cardboard Edison

Do board games need victory conditions? A thoughtful reconsidering of an age-old assumption about games (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxZcDZ1MUjk

August 19, 2023/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

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