Cardboard Edison’s Favorite Tips & Resources of 2018

Our huge annual roundup of great board game design links and quotes is here!

featured:

• The Process: Beta Colony by Matt Riddle and Ben Pinchback

• Meaningful Decisions: J. Alex Kevern on Design Choices in World’s Fair 1893

• Meaningful Decisions: Benoit Turpin on Design Choices in Welcome To...

• Meaningful Decisions: Bruno Cathala on Design Choices in Kingdomino

theory:

• A board game critic’s view of what makes a game memorable (video)

• A discussion of “soft” and “hard” incentives in game design (audio)

• A discussion about the assumptions we make about games—and how to design games that challenge them (audio): Part 1, Part 2

• Board game design sessions from GDC 2018 (video)

• “What is the goal of your game? It’s impossible to make decisions in the void, but if you know your audience, your game’s weight, the focus of the decisions, and the tone of your game (your goals), you can use that to hem in your decision.” - Grant Rodiek

process:

• Ideas aren't worthless: the important role they play in making a game

• A thread offering ways to foster ideas and innovation in your designs

• Tips for researching games that might be similar to your design (audio)

• “Who are you designing your game for? You? Go wild with weird mechanics. Friends? Listen & tune the game to suit them. A publisher? Learn to pitch a product to a business - you’re B2B. The world? It’s a product in the market that you will need to sell.” - Emma Larkins

• “The more I create, the more I develop the skill of persistence. I see people ‘give up’ so easily, convinced that a problem is unsolvable, resigning themselves to a flaw in their work that they see as unavoidable. With very rare exceptions, there’s ALWAYS a solution. Find it.” - Peter C. Hayward

rules:

• 9 tips for writing better rules

• 10 ways of making your rulebook clearer

• Rulebooks that nail it—a BoardGameGeek designers forum discussion

• “Don’t blame the reader for misreading the rule book. Ask how you can improve the rule book.” - Dr. Wictz

prototyping:

• Free art assets for independent board game designers

• Graphic design references for tabletop game cards

• Free library of icons for board game prototypes

playtesting:

• Ways to get people to playtest your prototype: from designer groups to print-and-plays to conventions and more (audio)

licensing:

• The essential elements of pitching your design to a publisher (audio)

• Questions you should ask yourself before submitting a game to a contest or publisher

• Charlie Hoopes on the design process, finding a publisher, recovering from disappointment, replayability, playtesting early and often, and more

• “If I ask ‘What makes your game different from other games of the same theme and weight?’ and you can’t answer me? don’t make the game.” - Avonelle Wing

publishing:

• Board game fulfillment logistics, and companies that do the work

• A Kickstarter "launch sequence": the steps to take immediately after launching a project

• How to make a budget for a Kickstarter board game project (video)

• A crash course in board game manufacturing (video)

contests:

• How to win a game design competition (audio)

• Lots of pointers for making a pitch video

industry:

• Tips and tricks for networking in the board game industry (audio)

• Industry veterans offer advice to designers at Dice Tower Con 2018 (video)

• On dealing with criticism as a board game designer

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Cardboard Edison is supported by our patrons on Patreon.

ADVISERS: Rob Greanias, Peter C. Hayward

SENIOR INVENTORS: Steven Cole (Escape Velocity Games), John du Bois, Chris and Kathy Keane (The Drs. Keane), Joshua J. Mills, Marcel Perro, Behrooz "Bez" Shahriari, Shoot Again Games

JUNIOR INVENTORS: Ryan Abrams, Joshua Buergel, Luis Lara, Neil Roberts, Jay Treat

ASSOCIATES: Dark Forest Project, Stephen B. Davies, Marcus Howell, Thiago Jabuonski, Doug Levandowski, Nathan Miller, Mike Sette, Matt Wolfe