Cardboard Edison’s Favorite Tips & Resources of 2016

Our annual list of favorite tips and links features a wide range of useful materials for board game designers...

featured:

• The 2017 Cardboard Edison Award. Deadline: Jan. 31, 2017

• The Compendium, a directory of more than 140 board game publishers: who's accepting submissions, what they're looking for, and how to contact them

process:

• A checklist for game designers. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. (audio)

• 17 ways to start a game design

• Keeping track of your game designs (copyable spreadsheet)

• “Remind yourself, always: Your game is not as simple as you think. It is not as elegant as you think. It is not as intuitive as you think.” - Eric Lang

• "Stop asking if your project is 'done'. Start asking if it’s great." - Peter C. Hayward

theory:

• Lessons from 20 years of game design. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

• 10 mistakes new designers make

• 10 degrees of player interaction in board games (video)

• Three designers of cooperative games answer questions about co-op design

• “Whatever the players do the most in your game should be the most fun. Don’t relegate the best part to 5% of game time. Weave it throughout.” - Kevin Wilson

prototyping:

• 9 sources of images and artwork for prototypes

playtesting:

• How to weigh feedback from different sources, depending on your goals

licensing:

• Top 10 things one publisher considers when evaluating a game: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

publishing:

• Nearly two hours of detailed advice for new Kickstarter project creators (video)

• How to get your game into distribution

industry:

• Why it's so difficult to be a full-time tabletop game designer: a fascinating analysis using the Cardboard Edison board game licensing reports

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ADVISERS: Peter C. Hayward, Aaron Vanderbeek

SENIOR INVENTORS: Steven Cole, John du Bois, Richard Durham, Koen Hendrix, Chris and Kathy Keane (The Drs. Keane), Marcel Perro, Behrooz Shahriari

JUNIOR INVENTORS: Ryan Abrams, Joshua Buergel, Luis Lara, Aidan Short, Jay Treat

ASSOCIATES: Robert Booth, Stephen B Davies, Doug Levandowski, Aaron Lim, Nathan Miller, Isaias Vallejo, Matt Wolfe

APPRENTICES: Kiva Fecteau, Scott Gottreu, JR Honeycutt, Knight Works, Scott Martel Jr., David J. Mortimer, Mike Mullins, Marcus Ross, Sean Rumble, Diane Sauer