In this episode, Jamey Stegmaier and I chat about the various trends we’re seeing in the current game design landscape. We talk about solo and 2-player games, open worlds, licensed IPs, and more!
The post Game Design Trends for 2025 with Jamey Stegmaier appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
My game design book, Find the Fun, recently came out, and in this episode, I do a brief synopsis and give you the audio version of the first three chapters.
To check out Find the Fun on Amazon, go here: https://amzn.to/4hmxseU
The post My new book will help you find the FUN appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this BGDL rewind from June of 2020, Corey Konieczka breaks down his entire design process.
Corey has several games ranked in the top 100 games of all time, and it was incredibly insightful to learn about how he brings a game to life. We chat about his path into the industry, his prototyping process, the challenges of working on IPs like Star Wars, when to walk away from a design, and more!
The post The design process of one of the world’s best designers, Corey Konieczka appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this BGDL rewind from April of 2020, Ignacy Trzewiczek, founder of Portal Games and designer of Robinson Crusoe, discusses his company’s motto: Games that tell stories.
We go in-depth into Ignacy’s design process, talk about his most popular games, and get to the heart of what it looks like to create games that have players leaving the table with a story to tell.
The post How to Design Games that Tell Stories with Ignacy Trzewiczek appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this episode, I break down some game design productivity hacks that have been helping me lately, and I’m specifically talking about a concept called “habit fields.”
This was a presentation I gave recently for Board Game Design Pro, so if you find it useful and want more helpful content like it, be sure to check out BGDP here. You’ll find all sorts of skill sessions on designing, crowdfunding, and publishing games!
And if you use coupon code “33today” you’ll receive 33% off the membership price 
The post Board Game Design Productivity Hacks with Gabe Barrett appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this episode, Leo Taylor, designer of games in the Risk, Clue, and D&D universes, breaks down his “key pillars of game design” as we chat through the many questions designers should think through as they dive into a new game design.
You can download a PDF of the key pillars HERE.
The post Do this BEFORE designing a game | Leo Taylor appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this episode, Joe Slack and I talk about how we’ve both been able to piece together lots of different revenue streams in the gaming industry to be able to make a full-time living from game design.
And be sure to check out Joe’s latest puzzle game here: http://kck.st/3SfV1Np
The post How to Make Money from Your Game Design Hobby with Joe Slack appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this episode, Jason Greeno and I chat about the current boom in the print-n-play side of the market, and we dive into how and why more designers should create printable versions of their games.
You can find a ridiculous number of PnP games on Jason’s website, PnP Arcade.
And you can find his game, The Cursed Managerie, on Kickstarter HERE.
Here’s the best PnP Facebook group.
The post Why You Should Create Print-n-Play Games with Jason Greeno appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this episode, Pam Walls and I chat about the games on our “must play” lists if you’re a game designer. And be sure to check out Pam’s awesome channel about game design here: https://www.youtube.com/@pamwallsgamedesign
Here are the games we discuss:
-Imhotep
-Dungeons & Dragons
-Catan -Chess
-Magic: the Gathering
-Robinson Crusoe
-Kemet -Creature Comforts
-Twilight Imperium
-Dune
-Century: Spiced Road
-Le Havre
-Vast
-Root
-Concordia
-Istanbul: the dice game
-Sagrada
-Gartenbau
-Silly Street
-Tyrants of the Underdark
-Legendary
-King of Tokyo
-Sleeping Gods
-Charterstone
-Arkham Horror: the card game
-RoboMon
The post The Games Every Designer MUST Play with Pam Walls appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this episode, I chat with Ben Downton who designs games and runs the publishing company Prometheus Game Labs. We chat about how lonely design work can be, how to balance being creative with running a business, Board Game Arena, and more!
And here’s the Board Game Arena article mentioned in the show: https://prometheusgamelabs.wordpress.com/2023/08/14/how-a-game-gets-on-board-game-arena/
The post How to Design AND Publish games with Ben Downton appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this episode, I talk through pretty much every tip about game design that I can think of!
And if you want to see the video version, you can check it out on YouTube HERE.
The post 71 Ways to Become a Better Game Designer with Gabe Barrett appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this episode, I chat with Jason Tagmire about everything related to 18-card games. We talk about designing, publishing, manufacturing, shipping, marketing, crowdfunding, and more!
The post Small Games that Pack a Big Punch with Jason Tagmire appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this episode, I chat with Jonny Pac about how to create games that fully engage players and keep them coming back for more. We talk about the difference between puzzles and games, designing for different types of players, utilizing randomness, fuzzy logic, and a whole lot more!
The post How to Craft the Perfect Player Experience with Jonny Pac appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this episode, I chat with James Ernest about how to make a game that doesn’t just work mechanically but is also a lot of fun to play. We talk about how to identify when testers are having fun, the design decisions that create fun experiences, utilizing surprise, and a whole lot more.
You can find James’s game design lectures and articles here: https://crabfragmentlabs.com/lecture-hall
And here’s that video he mentioned about goats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58-atNakMWw
The post How to Design Fun Games with James Ernest appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
In this episode, Sen-Foong Lim talks about how he balances his 50+ hour a week teaching job with working on 40+ games a year. We talk about how to design like crazy without burning out, how to get into a flow state, the myth of being self-made, how to work with co-designers, and a whole lot more!
The post How to Balance Game Design with a Full Time Job with Sen-Foong Lim appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
Peter C. Hayward, from Jellybean Games, is back, and we’re talking about how a hyper-creative person can pursue lots of different projects and actually get things done.
The post How to Work on Lots of Projects at Once with Peter C. Hayward appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
I’m celebrating the podcast’s 300th episode by chatting with Alan Moon, the designer of Ticket to Ride.
We go through his long career in the gaming industry, discuss the genesis of Ticket to Ride, chat about playtesting and pitching, and more!
The post (Celebrating 300 Episodes!) The Design Journey of Alan Moon appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
Peter C. Hayward, from Jellybean Games, is back, and we’re talking through our absolute best tips and advice for game designers.
We split the conversation into two parts: new designers and experienced designers. And we talk through our own successes and failures.
And be sure to check out Peter’s latest game, Sunshine City, which you can download for free HERE!
The post Our Best Game Design Advice with Peter C. Hayward appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
Patrick Mcneil, from McMeeple Games, discusses what it’s like to design games with his children.
Patrick has been creating games with his kids for years and has gotten many of the designs to the point of being fully published games. We talk about being intentional, setting the right expectations, overcoming negative feedback, and more.
The post Designing Games with Your Kids with Patrick McNeil appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
Gino Brancazio, from Tinkerbot Games, talks about the three stages of prototyping, and we discuss what you need to know depending on which stage you’re in.
The post [BGDL Community Spotlight] The 3 Stages of Prototyping with Gino Brancazio appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.
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