Peter C. Hayward, founder of Jellybean Games, discusses how to be a great playtester.

Peter often gets paid by publishers to playtest games and probably playtests more games than anyone you know. He’s got great advice on what it looks like to be the most helpful playtester at the table.

Be sure to check out Peter’s new game on Kickstarter HERE.

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Noel Gussen, designer of Deckfighters, discusses designing a game with multiple win conditions.

Noel’s MMA style card game has lots of ways to win (and lose), so we talk through different ways to add multiple end-game triggers.

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Jay Cormier, designer of Belfort and tons of other games, discusses tons of ins and outs of playtesting.

Jay has been designing games for over 15 years and has a ton of experience and advice on how to get to the best game possible. 

And be sure to check out Jay’s playtest journal on Kickstarter HERE.​​

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Joe Slack, college instructor of game design, discusses the ins and outs of teaching game design to other people.

Joe recently went full-time in the gaming industry and is focussing on helping others learn how to bring their games to life.

And be sure to check out Joe’s board game design course HERE.

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Patrick Rauland, designer of Fry Thief, discusses product management and how it relates to game design.

Patrick has worked as a pro product manager in the software industry, and there are tons of ways that understanding product management will make you a better designer in everything from prototyping to playtesting to running a Kickstarter.

Patrick’s game, Fry Thief, is on Kickstarter right now and is already fully funded. Check it out HERE.

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Jason Tagmire, founder of Button Shy Games, discusses the process of designing and publishing small games that pack a big punch.

Jason’s company specializes in 18 card games, and he’s become a master at packing a ton of game into a small package.​​

And check out Button Shy’s latest game on Kickstarter HERE.

The post Small Games that Pack a Big Punch with Jason Tagmire appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

The 2nd edition will hit Kickstarter on February 19th, so be sure to check it out!

The post [BGDL+] Interviewing Reiner Knizia for the 2nd Edition of the Board Game Design Advice Book appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

For the past 3 years, Eric Rayl has been traveling around the world interviewing some of the best designers in the world about their games, their processes, and their experiences in the industry.

Check out the documentary HERE.

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Bill Lasek, designer of Koi, discusses how to design programmable action games.

Programmable actions provide really interesting options for players and create really interesting challenges for designers. Bill’s game, Koi, programs fish moving around a pond, so he has first-hand experience with this type of game.

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James Van Niekerk, professional graphic designer and creator of Valor & Villainy, discusses colors, fonts, hierarchies, and tons of other concepts that you need to think about when working through the graphic design of a game.

The post Board Game Graphic Design with James Van Niekerk appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Tim Fowers, designer of Burgle Bros and Fugitive, discusses how to design deduction games.

Fugitive is one of my favorite deduction games, and Tim’s next game, Sabotage, is also a really cool deduction game coming out later this year.

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Steven Aramini, designer of Animal Kingdoms, discusses how to design an area control game.

Animal Kingdoms won the 2018 Cardboard Edison award and is a really clever, card-driven area control game.

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Fabian Zimmermann, designer of Goodcritters, discusses how to design a negotiation game.

Goodcritters is the most recent game in the Dice Tower Essentials line, and negotiation is the core of the game.

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Darwin Kastle, from White Wizard Games, discusses how to design a deck builder.

Darwin is a hall of fame Magic: the Gathering player and has a TON of experience designing card games. His most popular games are Star Realms and Hero Realms.

The post Designing a Deck Building Game with Darwin Kastle appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Rita Orlov discusses how to design a good puzzle game.

Through her company, Post Curious, Rita designs deeply immersive games for people who enjoy a good challenge.

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Daniel and Connie Kazmaier discuss how they put together a rather large online playtesting group for their game, Chai.

They have nearly 800 playtesters in their group and go into how they’ve nurtured and developed it.

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Stephen and Michael Stagliano discuss designing an RPG system. They’ve been working on their own tabletop RPG game, and they run a podcast, both called Tavern of Heroes.

They’ve been playing and designing role playing games for years, and we have a lively discussion on the ins and outs of putting one together. These guys have an incredibly high charisma modifier, haha.

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Jamey Stegmaier and I discuss what went wrong with my Kickstarter campaign and what I’m doing differently for the relaunch.

Check out the relaunch of The Final Flicktier HERE.

The post [BGDL+] My Kickstarter Post Mortem appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Aron West, designer of Catacombs, discusses the art and challenges in designing dexterity games with depth. He’s been designing and publishing these types of games for years and has a ton of insight on the topic.

And be sure to check out the latest version of Catacombs HERE.

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