Board game designers share their most unusual game ideas:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3693501/your-most-unusual-game-design-ideas

Understanding the trick-taking renaissance—looking at the rise of trick-taking games from a data-driven perspective:

https://www.donteatthemeeples.com/understanding-the-trick-taking-renaissance/

How can you reliably come up with good game ideas? Here are 5 different techniques to come up with new ideas that can grow into great games (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo-MAq_7YxI

How to surprise your players (and why you want to do this):

https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/surprise-your-players/

What are some of the most unusual components you have used in a prototype? A Reddit board game designers forum discussion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BoardgameDesign/comments/1shab0a/unusual_prototype_components/

Tips for pitching board games to publishers from someone who has fielded thousands of pitches:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BoardgameDesign/comments/1sfrmj0/after_9_years_and_thousands_of_boardgame_pitches/

10 ways to use dice in your board game (other than roll and move):

https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/10-ways-to-use-dice-in-your-board-game/

Exploring the concept of degenerate strategies and degenerate game states in tabletop games:

https://www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/degenerate-game

A multifaceted conversation about various aspects of making board games: the business side of indie publishing, different approaches to the design process, designing solo games, and more (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezso5wCYTKM

This short video runs through three things your board game probably needs—a core loop, complications, and surprises:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sBq8sUZO0Ro

Tips for publishers who want to work with board game media outlets: reviews, advertisements, making contact, following up, and more:

https://giantbrain.co.uk/2026/03/28/how-to-interact-with-board-game-media/

A short thread on what board game rulebook writers can learn from how comic books are laid out:

https://bsky.app/profile/nickbentley.bsky.social/post/3mhm3zkclq22i

BagBuilder is a free, browser-based game design tool for simulating random bag draws:

https://danhowardgames.github.io/BagBuilder/

How does the board game design community feel about generative AI? This survey asked for designers’ views about various potential uses:

https://irp.cdn-website.com/2b6905d0/files/uploaded/TTGDA+Member+Survey_+Use+of+Generative+AI+3_25_26.pdf

A brief overview of 12 steps it takes for one publisher to publish a board game:

https://stonemaiergames.com/12-steps-to-publish-a-tabletop-game/

How important is theme when you’re pitching your board game to a publisher? A Reddit board game design forum discussion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BoardgameDesign/comments/1s16sy6/how_important_is_a_games_theme_when_pitching/

The ins and outs of playtesting: when and where to playtest, how to run a playtest, how to take feedback, and good questions to ask your testers (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxp-VSwWQ-o

It’s often said that the first games you design will be terrible. But what if they aren’t? Here are some ways to approach your first design (video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB6ln4buwxg

Board game publishers share how often designers’ pitches lead to a prototype handoff and eventually to a contract:

https://bsky.app/profile/elizhargrave.bsky.social/post/3mhb3m3oxjs2u

This set of game icons is free to use for tabletop game projects:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lvQsO-MHLRyPBFnfYChSoASJ_y4IZTsu