Cardboard Edison’s Favorite Tips & Resources - October 2018

In this month's roundup of excellent board game design links and quotes, we have several different ways of thinking about games, lists of useful resources for making prototypes, reminders about the design process, and more.

theory:

• A board game critic’s view of what makes a game memorable (video)

• How designers can foster “narrative equity”—the ability of games to create stories that players will tell afterward (audio)

• A discussion about the assumptions we make about games—and how to design games that challenge them (audio): Part 1, Part 2

• Using components in innovative ways (audio)

prototyping:

• Lots of links to useful prototyping resources

• Free art assets for independent board game designers

publishing:

• How to make a budget for a Kickstarter board game project (video)

playtesting:

• “Don’t give up if the feedback is negative; correct and move on. Be prepared to question everything you have done and to change even when changing is the most painful thing to do. It will eventually pay off.” - Nestor Tyr

process:

• “The more I create, the more I develop the skill of persistence. I see people ‘give up’ so easily, convinced that a problem is unsolvable, resigning themselves to a flaw in their work that they see as unavoidable. With very rare exceptions, there’s ALWAYS a solution. Find it.” - Peter C. Hayward

• “You’re going to have bad playtests, bad feedback, lack of solutions to problems, and especially lack of time. Take feedback for what it is and try something different. Most importantly: Don’t stop trying.” - Lock Watson

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Cardboard Edison is supported by our patrons on Patreon.

ADVISERS: Rob Greanias, Peter C. Hayward, Aaron Vanderbeek

SENIOR INVENTORS: Steven Cole (Escape Velocity Games), John du Bois, Chris and Kathy Keane (The Drs. Keane), Joshua J. Mills, Marcel Perro, Behrooz "Bez" Shahriari, Shoot Again Games

JUNIOR INVENTORS: Ryan Abrams, Joshua Buergel, Luis Lara, Neil Roberts, Jay Treat

ASSOCIATES: Dark Forest Project, Stephen B. Davies, Adrienne Ezell, Marcus Howell, Thiago Jabuonski, Doug Levandowski, Nathan Miller, Mike Sette, 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, Rosco Schock, VickieGames, Lock Watson, White Wizard Games