Cardboard Edison’s Favorite Tips & Resources - March 2018
/This month's roundup of great board game design links and quotes includes important things to think about as you get started with a new design, a new prototyping resource, unique ways to think about a game's design, lots of rulebook-writing tips, and more.
industry:
- The most important questions to ask yourself when designing a board game (audio)
- What's your game's identifying feature, the thing that makes it memorable?
process:
- How to "overthink" a game design and prevent problems before they show up (video)
- The two opposing mindsets you must have as a game designer
theory:
- How a game design can let players create asymmetry for each other
- Using graphs to visualize the arc of your game and its strategies (video)
- How a game's different systems can be coupled to work together well (audio)
- Tips for designing a word game
prototyping:
playtesting:
rules:
- Rulebook building 101
- Tips for organizing rulebooks: introductions, terminology, visuals, player aids and more
licensing:
- Tips for approaching a publisher and making your best first impression
- “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:
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ADVISERS: 421 Creations, Black Letter Games, Peter C. Hayward, Aaron Vanderbeek
SENIOR INVENTORS: Steven Cole, John du Bois, Chris and Kathy Keane (The Drs. Keane), Joshua J. Mills, Marcel Perro, Behrooz Shahriari, Shoot Again Games
JUNIOR INVENTORS: Ryan Abrams, Joshua Buergel, Luis Lara, Aidan Short, Jay Treat
ASSOCIATES: Stephen B Davies, Marcus Howell, Samuel Lees, Doug Levandowski, Nathan Miller, Tony Miller, Neil Roberts, Mike Sette, Isaias Vallejo, Matt Wolfe
APPRENTICES: Cardboard Fortress Games, Kiva Fecteau, Guz Forster, Scott Gottreu, Aaron Lim, Scott Martel Jr., James Meyers, The Nerd Nighters, Matthew Nguyen, Marcus Ross, VickieGames, Lock Watson, White Wizard Games