Some trends that shaped the board game industry in 2025 and what they have meant for game designers (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH4o2alaNoA

Our annual Cardboard Edison Best Practices booklet, filled with board game design tips and resources for every step of the process, is back!

In this edition, you’ll find:

• How to make the most of a playtest group

• What should be in a pitch video—and what shouldn’t

• Mistakes to avoid with your prototype’s art

• Onboarding players more smoothly

• How to prepare for indie game markets

…and lots more!

A short thread about how players often get the rules wrong and what that means for designers:

https://bsky.app/profile/nickbentley.bsky.social/post/3mboz4k23y22o

How to give useful game-design feedback by matching your advice to the designer’s experience level (video):

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

Thoughts on how the players themselves affect the gameplay experience—and what that means for designers:

https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/12/30/socially-afflicted-how-people-affect-gameplay-experience-topic-discussion/

Writing your board game’s rulebook can be a chore—here’s a process for breaking up the task into manageable chunks:

https://discocandybar.com/2026/01/02/making-the-game-rules/

A good problem to have as a designer: How to deal with multiple publishers wanting to sign your game (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVqfMec6YCM

Three publishers on how they’re using—and paying to include—fan designs in their releases:

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2025/12/16/board-game-publishers-stonemaier-cmyk-and-eurydice-games-on-how-theyre-utilising-and-paying-to-include-fan-designs-in-their-releases/

A history of board game design (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTr3kVXd6LY

Sea freight shipping times: how to estimate delivery of a game from an overseas manufacturer:

https://www.bodagames.com/2025/12/16/sea-freight-shipping-times/

An exploration of board game boxes and their role in selling a game, framing and contextualizing the experience, and creating meaning (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgfVE_qbWC8

Why it isn’t helpful to compare your game design efforts to those of other designers, and why it’s better to pay attention to your own progress instead:

https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/stop-comparing-yourself-to-others/

Optimizing your pitch: some best and worst practices in helping your game get a fair shake from the publishers you submit it to (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrrFsv47ZEk

Should you playtest in-person or virtually? Why not both? Here are some upsides to each approach:

https://discocandybar.com/2025/12/05/playtesting-your-tcg-game-paper-or-pixels/

Marketing your board game ahead of a crowdfunding campaign: organic marketing, Facebook ads, and more:

https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/kickstarter-campaign-market-your-game/

Approaching your game’s prototype from a storytelling perspective, as a pitching tool, as a creative endeavor, and more (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaygkfL2WhA

Considering the differences between maps that use hexes vs. maps that use connected points:

https://www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/everything-is-pointcrawl

Answers to a bunch of questions about designing and publishing board games (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncobd6xxT2Q

What do you do with your old prototypes? A Reddit board game designers discussion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BoardgameDesign/comments/1ozz02m/what_do_you_do_with_old_prototypes/

Experts in crowdfunding, manufacturing, and fulfillment offer tips and tricks for how to navigate the publishing process (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZLGW1x5jo4