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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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February 01, 2025 February 01, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

How various modern board games approach handicap systems that allow players of different skill levels to compete—a Bluesky board game designers discussion:

https://bsky.app/profile/gengelstein.bsky.social/post/3lgwlcoulc22j

February 01, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

January 31, 2025 January 31, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

This site lets board game designers share info about their games, including photos and videos, with publishers:

https://www.boardgameprototypes.com/

January 31, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
licensing

Cardboard Edison

January 31, 2025 January 31, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

The 4 biggest challenges to creating anything (like a board game) and how to overcome them:

https://stonemaiergames.com/the-4-biggest-challenges-to-creating-anything-and-how-to-overcome-them/

January 31, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

January 25, 2025 January 25, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Game arcs: why they matter and some common types of arcs in board games:

https://www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/game-arcs

January 25, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

January 23, 2025 January 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

What do conventions offer for board game publishers, and how can companies make the most of them? (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW7pUq2FZlg

January 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

January 21, 2025 January 21, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

This panel discussion is filled with pointers and tips for making good marketing choices when you need to get your tabletop game in front of potential buyers (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Lv6fLPSkUE

January 21, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

January 20, 2025 January 20, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Tips for getting your board game design ready to enter into a board game design competition—like, you know, our own Cardboard Edison Award (video):

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

January 20, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
contests

Cardboard Edison

January 20, 2025 January 20, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

A discussion about trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy in tabletop gaming, and the legal and practical challenges facing game creators (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEBN7kUw4gA

January 20, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

January 19, 2025 January 19, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Free silhouette images of animals, plants, and other life forms, available for use in prototypes:

https://www.phylopic.org/

January 19, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
prototyping

Cardboard Edison

January 18, 2025 January 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

How to prevent players from ending up with the same few scores, with a little help from quantum physics:

part 1: https://www.instagram.com/p/DEryopmqaq5/?img_index=1

part 2: https://www.instagram.com/p/DE-g9fgM6LS/?img_index=1

January 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

January 18, 2025 January 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

This website lets board game designers collect feedback from playtesters, build a mailing list for their games, and more:

https://www.playtestfeedback.com/

January 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
playtesting

Cardboard Edison

January 18, 2025 January 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Two publishers discuss how they find and sign games, what they want out of a designer pitch, and more (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yn7XAHw6n8

January 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
licensing, publishing

Cardboard Edison

January 15, 2025 January 15, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

How to design a game for a non-gaming brand: questions to ask, setting your price, managing the project, setting expectations for the client, and more:

https://www.thedarkimp.com/blog/2025/01/15/designing-games-for-brands/

January 15, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

January 14, 2025 January 14, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Co-designing: The ins and outs of making board games with another designer (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ht-xqUC8fg

January 14, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

January 13, 2025 January 13, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

So you have an idea for a game—what next? A Reddit board game design forum discussion about the earliest stages of working on a design:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BoardgameDesign/comments/1hztygf/how_do_you_start/

January 13, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

January 13, 2025 January 13, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

3 tips for how to start designing your first board game (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31Urh-jDShY

January 13, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

January 12, 2025 January 12, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Artwork from a publisher perspective: gaining a vision for a project, finding the right artist and art style for a game, and more (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irvKUL--mF8

January 12, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

January 08, 2025 January 08, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

The Public Domain Image Archive is a collection of more than 10,000 out-of-copyright works that are free to use:

https://pdimagearchive.org/

January 08, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
prototyping

Cardboard Edison

January 05, 2025 January 05, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Triangular numbers and why they show up so often in game designs:

https://gametek.substack.com/p/2025-triangles-and-you

January 05, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

January 04, 2025 January 04, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Thoughts on doing your own thing as a designer and making games that are authentically yours:

https://bsky.app/profile/travisdhill.bsky.social/post/3leky2uezik2o

January 04, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

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