Cardboard Edison's Favorite Tips & Resources - June 2014

This month’s roundup of useful links and advice for board game designers features a list of what to look for in contracts, a new prototyping tool, reminders about getting started and continuing on, publishing mistakes to avoid and lots more…

#playtesting:

• “You are the greatest limitation to your own game design. Be willing to pursue the uncertainty of an idea you didn’t originally consider.” - Alex Harkey (@GamesPrecipice)

#process:

• “The key to being a game designer is to design games. Just wishing really hard doesn’t cut the mustard.” - Kevin Wilson (@KevinWilson42)
• “The road to success is a toll road. Our failures are the toll. Accept them and keep always moving forward.” - Kevin G. Nunn (@kgnunn)
• “Game design is a very difficult, long, frustrating, lonely process. Stick with it. Your diligence will pay off.” - Grant Rodiek (@HerrohGrant)
• Recognizing and escaping from “monkey traps”—those ideas you just can’t seem to let go of
• “If you just sit on your idea for 2.4yrs, someone else will publish an identical game. Go make something!” - Corey Young (@C_M_Young)

#prototyping:

• A program for turning comma-separated lists into printable playing cards

#licensing:

• Common pitfalls in licensing contracts for board games—and how to avoid them

#publishing:

• 10 Kickstarter mistakes to avoid, from Robert Burke (@robertburke)
• Doug Levandowski (@levzilla) of Meltdown Games (@meltdowngames) joins All Us Geeks (@AllUsGeeks) to discuss getting feedback prior to a Kickstarter launch, recent changes to the platform, marketing and more
• Dominic Crapuchettes of NorthStar Games (@NorthStarGames) joins Ludology to discuss designing party games, dealing with mass-market retailers, starting a game company and more
• Launching on Kickstarter soon? Here’s your to-do list for the final week

#theory:

• Pros and cons of different end-game conditions
• Schools of game design and their “core priorities”