“Keep in mind that every game you create (or try to create) is a learning experience. Know that discarded games are not useless. You will always learn from a failed game. These are the ones that teach you the most. A shelved game is like negative feedback well given, you learn much more than with positive feedback.”

— Roberto Pinheiro

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

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

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

How to get a game on Board Game Arena:

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

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/

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/

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

How to make game mechanics feel more thematic:

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

Digital prototyping tools: board game designers share their favorites:

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

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

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

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

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/

Tax considerations for funds raised through crowdfunding:

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

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

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

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

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/

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/

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