Cardboard Edison’s Favorite Tips & Resources - April 2016

This month, our roundup of favorite board game design links includes a thorough checklist for designers, fascinating articles on key game concepts, practical advice for a pitching tool and lots more.

featured:

• The Process: Scoville by Ed Marriott

process:

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

• How to find more time to make games (video)

theory:

• Key questions about your design: the core play loop, tension, axes of interaction and more

• The fundamental building blocks of games: resources, victory conditions and player interaction

• “Every theme is pasted on. Our job is to make that paste as strong as possible.” - Jon Gilmour

• “If you’re a first-time game designer, be very careful of the word ‘and.’ It is so easy to add a rule to a game, and the best game designers spend all of their time taking rules out.” - Luke Peterschmidt

playtesting:

• When considering playtest feedback, treat the problem, not the symptom

• “Take notes when given gameplay feedback even if you think you’ll remember later. It’s a social cue that you value your tester.” - Ben Pinchback

licensing:

• What should be in a sell sheet

publishing:

• Preparing a budget for a board game project

• Project-management advice for tabletop game producers (audio)

• How to determine the size of your print run

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SENIOR INVENTORS: Steven Cole, John du Bois, Richard Durham, Peter C. Hayward, Matthew O’Malley, Isaias Vallejo

JUNIOR INVENTORS: Ryan Abrams, Luis Lara, Behrooz Shahriari, Aidan Short, Jay Treat

ASSOCIATES: Robert Booth, Doug Levandowski, Aaron Lim, Nathan Miller, Marcel Perro, Matt Wolfe

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