Cardboard Edison

10 tips for making a better print-and-play version of your board game prototype for playtesters and publishers (video):

A framework for better understanding the various elements of your game and which aspects are likely to connect with publishers and players (video):

What’s the biggest bottleneck in your board game design process? A Reddit tabletop game design forum discussion:

University research tracks the rise of solo gaming and other game design trends over the decades:

Two-player games: the challenges facing designers making games for exactly two players:

Thoughts on managed chaos and why it’s not necessarily a bad thing for a game to be “unfair”:

Pain points in manufacturing: Designers and small publishers who have shipped a game product share their lessons on the prototype-to-production pipeline:

Why are so many board games getting sequels? Thoughts from both a publisher and player perspective:

Why are board game expansions so popular? Looking to the history of expansions to understand their enduring appeal to gamers and publishers (video):

The Explorateur links to various sites exploring graphic design, typography, logos, and other visual elements, including:

This new service lets people create and order custom PDF or printed versions of cards-on-words games:

Board game designers who have quit their day jobs share what allowed them to do that—a Bluesky game designer discussion:

The fundamentals of game design, taught by walking through the process of creating a new tabletop game (video):

The rise of cozy games—everything you need to know about how they’ve taken over such a big part of the tabletop industry:

This system aims to standardize colorblind-friendly iconography:

Arguing that frustration is an essential part of games, neither inherently bad nor good:

10 board game publishers who are seeking submissions—a walkthrough of their processes and requirements (video):