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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
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    • Playtest Groups
    • Virtual Tabletops
    • Contests
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    • Game Design Checklist
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  • Tariffs Report/
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prototyping
process
rules
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September 27, 2025 September 27, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

The designer of Wyrmspan and the head of Stonemaier Games discuss the board games that they’ve learned the most from (video):

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

September 27, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

September 25, 2025 September 25, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

How to design cooperative games—lessons learned from a designer who has made several of them (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_0qr_Tar0U

September 25, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

September 19, 2025 September 19, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

A short thread with some observations about how players can perceive randomness differently at different points in a game:

https://bsky.app/profile/salkind.bsky.social/post/3lyqxkl4v4c2u

September 19, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

September 19, 2025 September 19, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

The designer of Ascension offers up five game design lessons from 15 years of the game:

https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1/blogpost/177249/designer-diary-5-lessons-learned-from-15-years-of

September 19, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory, process, industry

Cardboard Edison

September 18, 2025 September 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Player count problems and solutions: What makes games flexible or inflexible at certain player counts, and what can designers and publishers do about it? (video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGLF2P3mSss

September 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

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

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