Board Game Design Lab

Assad Quraishi, designer of Genesis: Battle of Champions, how to design a collectible card game and how to run a company with a CCG as your main product. Assad has been designing CCGs for 20+ years and running his own CCG company for quite a while, so we’re able to explore nearly every angle of this aspect... The post How to Design a Collectible Card Game with Assad Quraishi appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Chris van der Linden, founder of Loresmyth Games, discusses his journey about going full-time in the gaming industry and how he turned his passion into his profession. It’s no small task to turn your hobby into a business, so Chris and I talk through how to make it happen, pitfalls, failure, and what the best parts... The post How to Turn Your Hobby into a Business with Chris van der Linden appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Justin Marty, accountant at Anders CPA, discusses everything you need to be thinking about when it comes to taxes and accounting as a game designer or publisher. Whether you want to just design games on the side, run Kickstarters, or make games your full time job, we go in-depth on everything you should be thinking about... The post Accounting, Taxes, and Game Design with Justin Marty appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Marco Pecota, designer of Legions of Steel, discusses everything that goes into designing a miniature war game. Marco has been designing these types of games since the 90s, and we go into combat systems, movement, metal vs plastic, and everything in between. And be sure to check out Marco’s miniatures packs on Kickstarter HERE. The post How to Design Miniature War Games with Marco Pecota appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

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 Designing Games that Tell Stories with Ignacy Trzewiczek appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Peter C. Hayward is back on the show, and we’re delving into the secret sauce of his personal design process. Hint: It all hinges on blind playtesting. Peter is a designer, developer, and publisher, so he has the benefit of seeing games from lots of different angles.​​

it’s just me on the show, and I’m talking about my latest book project called Board Game Kickstarter Advice.  I go through some of my favorite excerpts from the 50 interviews I did for the book and discuss why it’s such good advice if you want to fund a game on Kickstarter. Be sure to check...

Charlie Cleveland, professional video game designer and founder of Unknown Worlds Entertainment, discusses the crossover of video games and board games and what board game designers can learn from their digital counterparts. And be sure to check out Charlie’s game, Vampire Vendetta, on Kickstarter HERE.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.