Cardboard Edison’s Favorite Tips & Resources – June 2012

Every month, we revisit the board game design tips and resources we’ve found, and we pick out the best, most useful ones to spotlight. Here are our choices for June 2012:

#process:

• “There’s a lot of information out there, but the best advice that tends to get repeated over and over is this: Design a game you’d like to play.”
• “Got a practical problem with your board game? Don’t add more stuff. First, try using what you already *have* in a new way.”
• Richard Launius discusses his process for creating cooperative games

#rules:

• “Your game is always more difficult and complicated than you think. Always.”

#theory:

• Things to avoid in game design. Thou shalt not…
• “Don’t confuse depth with complexity.”

#playtesting:

• How to effectively playtest and iterate your board game design
• “Gamers gonna game, and your game can’t break when they do.”

#industry:

• “Spend some time creating games just for the fun of it before you decide it’s the right choice to make it into a business venture.”
• Every BoardGameGeek Designer Diary

#prototyping:

• “Make the prototype quickly from anything you can find. Once you have a game, improve the prototype enough to interest playtesters. Once you get a finely-tuned game, make it shine.”