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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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October 31, 2025 October 31, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

The Daniel.games game design advice website has been updated with new and revised articles:

https://daniel.games/

October 31, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory, process, playtesting, industry

Cardboard Edison

October 28, 2025 October 28, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

An introduction to online playtesting (video):

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

October 28, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
playtesting

Cardboard Edison

October 25, 2025 October 25, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

A short thread on how potential customers browse at a game store and what designers can learn from it:

https://bsky.app/profile/kevinwilson42.bsky.social/post/3m3zqjfqi3c2b

October 25, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

October 24, 2025 October 24, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Tips for designing board games with strong narratives (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJmJ1IALfGc

October 24, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

October 21, 2025 October 21, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Some concrete tips for keeping your playtesters happy, through your pitch, your teach, the prototype, and the design itself:

https://www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/happy-playtesters

October 21, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
playtesting

Cardboard Edison

October 20, 2025 October 20, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Marketing board games: tips for how to reveal a new game, run ads for a crowdfunding campaign, purchase paid marketing, and more (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZoSEACOw9E

October 20, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

October 18, 2025 October 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Ways to move forward when you're feeling stuck as a game designer (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yjYywuqJBM

October 18, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
process

Cardboard Edison

October 16, 2025 October 16, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Aspects of the tabletop industry that can contribute to burnout for board game designers (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2rC_8F10R8

October 16, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

October 12, 2025 October 12, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Fragile mechanics: what makes a game mechanic particularly fragile?

http://www.sjgames.com/ill/a/2025-10-12

October 12, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

October 11, 2025 October 11, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Before finalizing a production run with a manufacturer, here are the final steps to consider about your print run:

https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/getting-your-game-manufactured-after-locking-in-your-orders/

October 11, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
publishing

Cardboard Edison

October 11, 2025 October 11, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

When making a historical game, how to decide what to include and what to leave out? A Bluesky board game designers discussion:

https://bsky.app/profile/biffybeans.bsky.social/post/3m2d575y6mk2y

October 11, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

October 11, 2025 October 11, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Player psychographics: how archetypes of different players and what they want from games can help designers make better design decisions (video):

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

October 11, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

October 09, 2025 October 09, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Games that hold scoring until the end can leave players unclear about what their goals are. Here are some fixes to give players earlier, clearer feedback (video):

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

October 09, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

October 07, 2025 October 07, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Designing traditional and abstract board games (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFxZ4cL6UJM

October 07, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

October 04, 2025 October 04, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Insights into the vetting process that publishers typically put new potential game designs through before seriously considering them as realistic options for future publication (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8GFP2uyE0M

October 04, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
licensing

Cardboard Edison

October 04, 2025 October 04, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Common game design problems and suggestions for overcoming them: being stuck on a mechanic, downtime, overwhelmed players, lack of interaction, and when the game just isn't great (video):

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

October 04, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory

Cardboard Edison

October 03, 2025 October 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

Lessons learned from 10 years as a published board game designer (video):

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

October 03, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
industry

Cardboard Edison

September 27, 2025 September 27, 2025/ Cardboard Edison

This chat with a game designer and developer considers what makes a game “cozy” and what makes it a good product (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux_BOmq9WCY

September 27, 2025/ Cardboard Edison/
theory, industry

Cardboard Edison

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

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