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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/
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theory
playtesting
prototyping
process
rules
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September 17, 2025 September 17, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Thoughts on why downtime isn’t always a bad thing and why constant engagement isn’t always desirable:

https://lestmyopinions.com/2025/09/07/whats-up-downtime/

September 17, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

September 12, 2025 September 12, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Legal basics for board game designers: patents, trademarks, copyrights, licensing agreements, and more (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtzvEv5RSQA

September 12, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

September 11, 2025 September 11, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Why it’s worth the cost for board game designers to attend gaming conventions (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwOK1j_BffQ

September 11, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

September 11, 2025 September 11, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

A reminder for designers to learn how to process all different types of feedback about your game, even if it’s critical (video):

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

September 11, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
playtesting

Cardboard Edison

September 08, 2025 September 08, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Tips for designing satisfying combos in a board game (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D14N8VEBp-g

September 08, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

September 06, 2025 September 06, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

6 places to get a nice version of your board game’s prototype made:

https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/the-top-5-places-to-get-your-board-game-prototype-made/

September 06, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
prototyping

Cardboard Edison

September 04, 2025 September 04, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Digital playtesting: an introductory rundown of tools, tips, and best practices for migrating your prototypes and playtests to the digital sphere (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwIsjCvEFI0

September 04, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
playtesting, prototyping

Cardboard Edison

September 03, 2025 September 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

How to simplify rules with shorter sentences:

https://www.mojo-nation.com/whats-the-fastest-way-to-simplify-rules-writer-deej-johnson-reveals-three-ways-to-shorten-sentences/

September 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
rules

Cardboard Edison

September 03, 2025 September 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Designing the kinds of games that are currently trendy: why it’s not an optimal approach to game design and how it’s better to try and start a new trend than to attach your game to a current trend (video):

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

September 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry, process

Cardboard Edison

September 01, 2025 September 01, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Tips for designing a megagame for a very large group of players:

https://www.megagameassembly.com/blog/some-megagame-design-lessons-i-learned-the-hard-way

September 01, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory, process, playtesting

Cardboard Edison

August 30, 2025 August 30, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Saving time when designing games: minimizing work on a game before an initial test and some tips and tricks to help you move faster in your game design process (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy1c-57mvaU

August 30, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

August 30, 2025 August 30, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

How to make a simple game that’s also deep, or a heavy game that’s still simple to grasp (video):

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

August 30, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

August 29, 2025 August 29, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

This Q&A session with the games team at Kickstarter covers lots of things that game makers should know about crowdfunding and games marketing and funding (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGs8sZcEtsQ

August 29, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

August 28, 2025 August 28, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Lifestyle games: what they are, what kinds of games can become lifestyle games, designing one today, and more (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_7v6HDWHAI

August 28, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory, industry

Cardboard Edison

August 27, 2025 August 27, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Tips for playtesting your board game design at a convention—a Reddit tabletop game design forum discussion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/comments/1n182cl/first_time_playtesting_at_a_con_and_i_need_your/

August 27, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
playtesting

Cardboard Edison

August 23, 2025 August 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

This board game designer glossary has brief explanations for tons of everyday industry terms that all designers should know:

https://streamlinedgaming.com/board-game-designers-glossary/

August 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

August 23, 2025 August 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

The pros and cons of scaling games to meet multiple player counts, and the kinds of experiences available at specific counts (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-s2jaN57is

August 23, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

August 20, 2025 August 20, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

The benefits of sharing your board game ideas with others as early as possible:

https://pamwallsgamedesign.substack.com/p/the-benefits-of-sharing-your-board

August 20, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

August 19, 2025 August 19, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

A roundtable discussion about board game development and how developers work with designers (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJF-qdk-sJ8

August 19, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

August 18, 2025 August 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Many co-op games give players urgent tasks to address while they tackle the important job that wins them the game. Here’s why:

https://rossongames.com/urgent-important

August 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

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