Cardboard Edison's Favorite Tips & Resources - January 2016

This month, our roundup of favorite board game design links includes deep looks at some thorny design problems, an important question you probably didn't ask your playtesters, a peek inside one publisher's thought process when evaluating a game, and more.

featured:

• Meaningful Decisions: Matthew O'Malley on Design Choices in Diner

• The Publishers: Q&A With Michael Coe of Gamelyn Games

 theory:

• Catchup mechanics

• Things that drive player behavior during a game: rewards and punishments, scarcity, pivot points and more

• Ways to increase a game's depth

• Considering a game's "virtuosity"--its ability to let players make creative, unexpected moves

• Variations on worker placement

playtesting:

• The Meeple Syrup show on painful playtests--and why they're necessary (video)

• Why you should ask playtesters, "How did the game make you feel?"

process:

• An overview of the game design process, from prototype to production (video)

licensing:

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

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SENIOR INVENTORS: Steven Cole, John du Bois, Richard Durham, 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

APPRENTICES: Kevin Brusky, Kiva Fecteau, Scott Gottreu, Michael Gray, JR Honeycutt, Scott Martel Jr., Marcus Ross, Diane Sauer, Steven Tu