There’s a lot to learn about making amazing tabletop games. Here’s where I share what I’ve learned about game design.
Game design 101: Where to find free icons, pictures, and graphics for prototypes
Because prototypes — especially those you're showing publicly — should not exist on text alone. [First published on 28 Sept 2018 - Last updated 11 Jan 2021] You're probably aware that you can't just take an image you find on Google and use it however you want. You're...
Review: 51 Clubhouse Games – classic tabletop games on the Nintendo Switch
This one came out of nowhere, but has quickly become my game of the year. Officially 'Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics', one Switch game purchase gets you, well, 51 classic games that are familiar, yet potentially new. This isn't a port, though — each game has...
Review: Meeple Marketing’s Game Designer Marketing Toolkit by Nalin Chuapetcharasopon
Nalin Chuapetcharasopon has made a name for herself for some of her posts in Facebook groups related to board game design. Per her website, "Ever since stumbling into crowdfunding in 2015, I've helped entrepreneurs raise over $13 million on Kickstarter and...
What To Do After The Playtest: 20 Playtesting Questions That Set Players Up To Give Great Answers
So you've just finished playtesting a game. Whoever has won gets to play it up a bit, players begin to look at the rest of the cards, and then... ...crickets... Experienced designers know this is the perfect time to begin asking questions, giving feedback, and...
Tabletop Simulator 101: the Ultimate Guide for Absolute Beginners
Tabletop Simulator is a powerful 'sandbox' program that makes it surprisingly easy to show off your game in a virtual space. It came out in 2015 following a successful Kickstarter, and has become the most popular way to play games virtually. There is a learning curve,...
Game design: an introduction to spreadsheets for game designers — with real-world examples
Wait, I thought you were a game designer, not an accountant! LOL. I'm not an accountant... but I was a Business major. Getting good at spreadsheets means being able to wrangle the data in your game into a thing you can show someone else, do math to predict how things...
Game design 101: What if someone steals my idea?
Whether it's phrased: What if someone steals my idea? What if someone steals your idea? I don't want to talk about my idea, someone might steal it... The fear is the same. The reality is that an idea by itself is worthless — it's the execution of that idea that...
My Ultimate Guide to Pitching at Conventions — or, What I’ve Learned After Several Hundred Pitches
Whether you're pitching at Essen or another convention, there's definitely a process. I hesitate to call myself an expert on this one, but my meeting schedule for this Essen is officially full. Actually, a little too full. That said, I've made more than a few of the...
Game design: Can your game pass these five design tests?
Design is one of those things that can get overlooked when playing games in ideal circumstances. Nice bright lights, nice big table, everyone can see and understand everything perfectly... Except you know that's not reality. About 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women are...
Connect with game designers around the world in these 18 Facebook groups
Wherever you are in your game designing journey, Facebook groups are a wonderful place to meet other designers, talk shop, ask questions, and be part of a community. There are quite a few out there, so there's no need to join them all. The rules in most groups are...