Bez Shahriari, designer of Yogi, discusses how to design not just a game but a gaming system that can support lots of different games.

Bez designed a system called the ELL Deck a while back, and we get into everything a designer has to think about when working on a project that’s going to consist of more than one game.

And be sure to check out Bez’s game system, the ELL Deck, on Kicstarter HERE.

The post Designing a Game System with Bez Shahriari appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Victoria Caña and Alex Uboldi, designers of Gladius, discuss the design process for creating a game with betting at its core.

We go into the ins and outs of balancing hidden vs open information, tension, and why people like these games so much.

The post Designing a Betting Game with Victoria Caña and Alex Uboldi appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Tim Eisner, designer of Tidal Blades, discusses the design process for creating big games.

Tim is a master of designing games that take up a bunch of space on your table, but his games are also super approachable.

The post Designing Big Games with Tim Eisner appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Juma Al-JouJou, designer of Clans of Caledonia, discusses the design process for a farming centric game.

We talk about market economies, resources, balance, and more.

The post Designing a Farming Game with Juma Al-JouJou appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Mohamed Alqadi, designer of Conqueror: Final Conquest, discusses what localization is and how you can take it to the next level. 

We talk about not only translating a game but also changing the art and gameplay depending on where the game is being sold.

The post Localization with Mohamed Alqadi appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Erica Bouyouris, designer of Bosk, discusses what all goes into designing a nature-themed game. 

We talk about bringing a theme to life, mechanisms, art, components, and more.

The post Designing a Nature-Themed Game with Erica Bouyouris appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

David Smith and Travis Winstead, designers of 10 Gallon Tank, discuss what all goes into publishing your first game. 

We talk about idea selection, creating a product, long-term planning, and more.

And be sure to check out their game 10 Gallon Tank on Kickstarter HERE.

The post Publishing Your First Game with David Smith and Travis Winstead appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

For this episode, I’m doing another design diary, and this time I’m talking about my monster-themed football game Dungeon Ball.

I talk about how the game came to be and what went into its design process.  I also go into the business side of things and talk about the highs and lows of its Kickstarter campaign.

The post The Making of Dungeon Ball with Gabe Barrett appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Mike Gnade, designer of Maximum Apocalypse, Set a Watch, The Few and Cursed, discusses what all goes into designing an adventure game. 

We talk about open worlds, story moments, combat, events, luck, and all sorts of other things that come together to make a good adventure game.

The post Designing Adventure Games with Mike Gnade appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Martin Gonzalvez, expert print-n-player, discusses why having a print-n-play version of your game is so important. 

We talk about best practices and ways to make PnP files with excellence. We also get into some game creation techniques.

The post Designing an Awesome Print-n-Play with Martin Gonzalvez appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Andrew Lowen, from Next Level Web, is back to discuss even more things you need to know in order to market a game effectively. We talk about Facebook ads, post-Kickstarter marketing, working with a marketing agency, and more.

The post How to Market a Board Game (Part 2) with Andrew Lowen appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

boardgameswithfriends:

Part 2! Skull, Spyfall, Sheriff of Nottingham, and Dead Man’s Draw.

The holiday posts from last year in case anyone was looking for those again!

boardgameswithfriends:

In a Board Games With Friends first, it’s a double feature! Rainbow Dash will come back with her recommendations for holiday games that are a little spicier next [unit of time] when I can get around to drawing the update.

Once again this time’s games are:

Timeline, The Mind, Codenames, and Sushi Go.

The holiday posts from last year in case anyone was looking for those again!

Andrew Lowen, from Next Level Web, discusses everything you need to be thinking about when it comes to marketing your game.

We talk email lists, Facebook, timelines, and more. There was so much, in fact, that this podcast will be a 2-part series.

The post How to Market a Board Game (Part 1) with Andrew Lowen appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Jayson Smith and Jason Zmuda, from Gold Cauldron Games, discuss the ins and outs of various combat systems.

We talk dice, cards, dexterity and more. And we analyze several “must play” games to learn how to design awesome combat. 

The post Combat Systems with Jayson Smith and Jason Zmuda appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

The post [ANNOUNCEMENT] The Board Game Design Calendar appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Chris Totten, designer of La Mancha, discusses the intersection of the fine arts and modern gaming.

Chris is a professor of game design at Kent State University and has written several books on game design.

The post Mixing the Fine Arts with Game Design with Chris Totten appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Omar Tarancon, designer of Safari Turbo, discusses how to design a racing game.

We talk about creating tensions, special abilities, board design and more.

The post Designing a Racing Game with Omar Tarancon appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Tobias Olsson and Samuel Sapire, from Tea Time Productions, discuss how they get the most out of the themes in their games.

We talk about starting with a theme in mind and making the mechanisms bring it to life, and we go into how to start with mechanisms and add a theme to the mix.

And check out their super thematic biathlon game on Kickstarter HERE.​​

The post Getting the Most out of a Theme with Tobias Olsson and Samuel Sapire appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

askthesunjackers:

Hey here’s a thing I’ve been working on for a little while but didn’t want to announce before I’d brought them to Bronyscot: Sunjackers playing cards! I’ve also bundled it up with some gem chips and a game of my own design, but you can also just use the cards for playing such classic traditional card games as… *shuffles papers* snap!

Anyway you can grab these if you want, or don’t! I’m not your dad. I’ll be getting around to more actual Sunjackers updates… at some point! I know it has literally been like six months since I updated I’ve just been doing a lot of stuff I’m sorry here’s one of the things i hope you like it

board games with friends is contractually obligated to declare a conflict of interest and will not mention OVERTIME in review coverage however look I made a game!!!!