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Cardboard Edison

Game design & bright ideas for game designers

Bright Ideas

Tips & Resources for Board Game Designers

Cardboard Edison
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  • Our Games/
    • Houdini's Last Act
    • Quad Squad
    • Cobras
    • Retail Rejects
    • More Games
    • Prototypes
  • Free Resources/
    • Blog
    • Industry Reports
    • Playtest Groups
    • Virtual Tabletops
    • Contests
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    • Game Design Checklist
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theory
playtesting
prototyping
process
rules
licensing
publishing
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June 03, 2025 June 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Rejection and board game design: how to take feedback while remaining professional (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NsZPhBo0Nw

June 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
licensing, industry

Cardboard Edison

June 03, 2025 June 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

A play pattern that is common to many gateway games:

https://gametek.substack.com/p/grand-unified-gateway-theory

June 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

June 03, 2025 June 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Tips for playtesting and pitching, from the SAZ game designers convention:

https://arjanvanhouwelingen.com/2025/06/02/saz-gotting-game-designer-convention/

June 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
playtesting, licensing

Cardboard Edison

June 03, 2025 June 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

First things first when getting into tabletop game design: how the industry is organized, mass market vs. hobby games, how pitching tends to work, and more:

https://www.marygeorgescu.com/blog/2025/6/2/getting-into-tabletop-game-design

June 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

June 02, 2025 June 02, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Myths many board game designers believe about the importance of ideas, how to playtest, attracting a publisher, and more (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOgM4zjKQW8

June 02, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
playtesting, industry, licensing

Cardboard Edison

June 02, 2025 June 02, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Publishing considerations for the game box and packaging: artwork, the back of the box, box size, alternatives to boxes, and more (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXdeM-vg__4

June 02, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

May 31, 2025 May 31, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Kickstarter’s head of games on serving backers, common crowdfunding mistakes, pledge levels, and more:

https://stonemaiergames.com/interview-with-kickstarters-new-head-of-games/

May 31, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

May 30, 2025 May 30, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

How three different types of contracts in board games work: licensing an intellectual property for tabletop, signing a designer’s game, and overseas publishing partnerships:

https://strebecklaw.com/board-game-licensing/

May 30, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing, licensing

Cardboard Edison

May 30, 2025 May 30, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

A few different ways of using deadlines to keep your board game design efforts moving (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U-OzV3DVYc

May 30, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

May 26, 2025 May 26, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

10 steps for designing your first tabletop game (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoRVn6DrBJ4

May 26, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

May 23, 2025 May 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

What’s behind a successful co-design partnership? Here are stories from people who design games together:

https://peopleofplay.com/blog/gray-matters-games-joe-barron-game-changers-who-go-it-together

May 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

May 23, 2025 May 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Ways to keep your crowdfunding project’s backers excited and engaged in the middle of a campaign:

https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/kickstarter-lessons-how-to-keep-your-backers-excited-and-engaged-both-during-and-after-your-campaign/

May 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

May 23, 2025 May 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Traditional games that are worth learning, and how they’ve influenced modern hobby games:

https://punchboard.substack.com/p/traditional-games-theyre-way-more

May 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory, process

Cardboard Edison

May 22, 2025 May 22, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Things to think about when you’re coming up with a name for your board game business:

https://stonemaiergames.com/choosing-a-company-name-and-impersonation/

May 22, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

May 20, 2025 May 20, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Thoughts on what happens when the winner is clear, player psychology in those moments, concession rules, and more:

https://www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/garbage-time

May 20, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

May 17, 2025 May 17, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Staying polite as a crowdfunder: why you should always be professional with backers—even when they aren’t:

https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/kickstarter-lessons-always-be-professional-and-polite-even-when-your-backers-arent/

May 17, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

May 17, 2025 May 17, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

A wide-ranging board game designer Q&A session, touching on topics from prototyping supplies to beginners’ advice, learning from playtesters, and more (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6wrKglWfDQ

May 17, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
prototyping, playtesting, theory

Cardboard Edison

May 12, 2025 May 12, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Tips for how to go about designing simple games with as little as one single mechanic:

https://www.thedarkimp.com/blog/2025/05/12/designing-games-with-a-single-mechanic/

May 12, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process, theory

Cardboard Edison

May 09, 2025 May 09, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

How to design a trivia game (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmaLV5EV2wI

May 09, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

May 09, 2025 May 09, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Rewards and punishments—how different ways of incentivizing players feel:

https://bsky.app/profile/senfoonglim.bsky.social/post/3loqicg2mcs2m

May 09, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

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