Podcast Archives - Board Game Design Lab

Jeremy Commandeur, organizer of the largest Protospiel in the U.S., discusses pitches and sell sheets. Jeremy has had several designs published and has found a great deal of success in pitching to publishers and getting games signed. Sell Sheet Examples on Pinterest collected by John Brieger: https://www.pinterest.com/johnbrieger/boardgame-sell-sheets/ Sell Sheet Examples on Flickr collected by Je...

Justin Jacobson, founder of Restoration Games, discusses the process of bringing a game back to life. Justin’s entire business model is built on taking old games off the shelf and breathing new life into them, and he offers great insight on how to do it. If you’ve got some old games of your own that you shelved... The post Bringing Old Designs Back to Life with Justin Jacobson appeared...

Peter Hayward, founder of Jellybean Games, discusses the two types of cooperative games and what makes them work. Peter plays hundreds of prototypes a year, and he’s noticed some serious issues with the majority of the co-op prototypes he sees. The post The Two Types of Cooperative Games with Peter Hayward appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Brandon Rollins, designer of Highways & Byways, discusses accessibility in games and ways to make your designs more inclusive. Brandon is an avid blogger and consistently writes great content to help game designers. Meeple Like Us accessibility reviews Color palettes for color blindness 10 Quick Accessibility Wins for Game Developers And make sure to check out Brandon’s latest Kickstarte...

Jerry Hawthorne, designer of Stuffed Fables, discusses story driven games and how to use narrative to create incredible gaming experiences. Jerry is a long-time veteran of the industry and specializes in games that evoke stories. The post Story Driven Games with Jerry Hawthorne appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Adam Rehberg, owner of Adam’s Apple Games, discusses the finer details on what makes a box functional, fashionable, and provocative. For his day job, Adam is a packaging engineer for Target, so he definitely knows what he’s talking about. If you have box questions for Adam, you can find him on Twitter HERE. And be... The post Boxes and Packaging that Sell with Adam Rehberg appeared fir...

Vincent Vergonjeanne, founder of Lucky Duck Games, discusses games that use digital components in their design. Vincent runs his own video game company and has been quite successful in both the digital space and the board game industry, so he really knows a lot about this topic. The post Designing Games with Digital Elements with Vincent Vergonjeanne appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Jason Mowery and Chase Williams, designers of The Big Score, discuss the process of co-designing a game. We talk scheduling, conflict management, and more. Also, you can check out their new game on Kickstarter HERE. (It’s basically Ocean’s 11, the board game.) The post Working with a Co-Designer with Jason Mowery and Chase Williams appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Petter Olsen, designer of Kill the King, discusses the king of the hill mechanism. (We also might go into propane and propane accessories…)Petter’s new game hinges on this particular mechanism, so he knows a lot about what makes it work well.​​ You can check out his new game on Kickstarter HERE. The post The King of the Hill Mechanism with Petter Olsen appeared first on Board Game Desi...

Greg Loring-Albright, designer of Leviathan, discusses the ins, outs, and what-have-yous of micro games. He brings up some great points about designing small games that carry a big experience. The post Designing Micro Games with Greg Loring-Albright appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Jon Gilmour, designer of Dead of Winter, discusses how to design the experiences and themes that people can’t wait to get their hands on. Jon just seems to have an innate ability to design games that go hand in hand with what people are excited about, and he gives me a tour behind the curtain... The post Themes that Sell with Jon Gilmour appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Today, it’s just me on the podcast, and I’m discussing creativity, time management, and the future of the BGDL.I’ve learned a lot of really great stuff about the creative process, and I want to share with you some of the things that have been helping me with my game designs. And then I want to tell... The post Creativity and the Future of the BGDL with Gabe Barrett appeared first...

Alan Emrich, founder of Victory Point Games, discusses how a publisher approaches the development process when taking a game from prototype to store shelf. Alan has been in the gaming industry for four decades and brings a great deal of experience and insight into this conversation. Both designers and publishers will benefit from what he... The post How a Publisher Develops Games with Alan Emrich...

Artyom Nichipurov (Arty for short), designer of Guards of Atlantis: Tabletop MOBA, discusses Tabletopia and gives lots of tips and tricks on how to get your prototype up and running on the system. Tabletopia can be an extremely useful resource for playtesting, demoing, and pitching your game. If you need some help with the software,... The post Digital Prototyping on Tabletopia with Artyom Nichipu...

Don Eskridge, designer of The Resistance, discusses all the ins and outs of creating a social deduction game. The Resistance is one of the most popular games ever made that lets you lie directly to your friends’ faces, and Don has designed several more of these types of games, so he definitely knows what he’s talking about. And... The post Designing Social Deduction Games with Don Eskr...

Dustin Schwartz, professional rulebook writer, discusses what makes a great rulebook and lots of tips and tricks on how to put together a ruleset that’s easy to teach and easy to learn. Dustin wrote 40 rulebooks in 2017 and is looking to write 100 in 2018, so he’s got a TON of experience on what... The post How to Create an Awesome Rulebook with Dustin Schwartz appeared first on Board...

Jamey Stegmaier is back on the show, and we’re talking Legacy Games. Jamey’s game, Charterstone, just came out, and it’s quite possibly the most ambitious Euro game in existence as it takes all the legacy style elements and applies them to a worker placement experience. Jamey is one of the best designers on the planet, and... The post Designing Legacy Games with Jamey Stegmaier a...

Matt Leacock, designer of a little game called Pandemic, discusses how to craft the player experience.​Matt is one of the most well-known designers in the world, and he’s learned how to finely tune a game to give players the desired experience. Previously, he worked for companies like Apple and Yahoo developing UX for various products,... The post Crafting the Player Experience with Matt Lea...

Seth Grier, vice president of Quartermaster Logistics, discusses the ins and outs of shipping, fulfillment, and fulfillment services. Whether you’re looking to ship games out of your garage or hire a service to do it for you, this episode is for you as Seth goes into the nuts and bolts of things to be aware of when shipping board... The post Shipping, Fulfillment, and Fulfillment Services wi...

Juliana Patel and Ariel Rubin, designers of Escape Room in a Box, discuss the ins and outs of creating an escape room game. Juliana and Ariel are busy moms who find time to get together and design games, and they have a ton of insight on what makes a great escape experience. Escape Room in a Box was... The post Designing Escape Room Games with Juliana Patel and Ariel Rubin appeared first on Board...

Andrew Harmon, designer of Portals and Prophets, discusses religious themed games. Andrew designed a time travel game with a Biblical theme, and we talk the ins and outs of how to bring a religious themed game to life. We also talk about how not to offend too many people along the way. Also, Andrew’s game is out on Kickstarter right now.... The post Creating Religious Themed Games with Andre...

Sami Laakso, owner of Snowdale Design, discusses how to design a scenario based game. Sami is both a publisher and a designer, and he’s been working on a campaign driven game with legacy elements for over 2 years. We discuss what he’s learned throughout the design process, and he gives lots of tips and tricks. And you can find Sami’s... The post Designing Scenario Based Games wit...

Today, Kirk Dennison, owner of Piecekeeper Games, discusses how to efficiently create new versions of a game and iterate like a boss Kirk is both a publisher and a designer, and he’s obsessed with efficiency. He gets into some serious nuts and bolts about saving time and moving from one version to the next. And... The post How to Iterate like a BOSS with Kirk Dennison appeared first on Board...

Scott Rogers, designer of Rayguns and Rocketships, discusses how to intertwine theme and mechanics. Scott has been designing both video and board games for years and teaches game design at the University of Southern California. Scott also does the “History of a Board Game” segments on the Dice Tower and Ludology podcasts. And the Jack Vasal Memorial Fund auction mentioned in... The pos...

Andrew Birkett, founder of Atheris Games, discusses how he started a publishing company and got his first game 200% funded on Kickstarter. We talk about tips for pre-campaign preparation, overcoming the mid-campaign slump, finishing strong, and more. The post How a First Time Publisher Gets Funded on Kickstarter with Andrew Birkett appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .