The Board Game Design Lab

In this episode, I break down the six things I learned from the game that took 10 years to go from idea to published product. And you can find Football U on Kickstarter HERE The post 6 Takeaways from the game that took 10 years to make appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

Amy and Dusty Droz join me to talk about how they’ve built an extremely profitable publishing business in a relatively short amount of time. We talk about tariffs, fulfillment, audience, budgeting, customer service, and a whole lot more! The post How to build a million dollar publishing company with Amy and Dusty Droz appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

In this episode, Jamey Stegmaier and I chat about the various trends we’re seeing in the current game design landscape. We talk about solo and 2-player games, open worlds, licensed IPs, and more! The post Game Design Trends for 2025 with Jamey Stegmaier appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

In this episode, I chat with Andrew Lowen, from Crowdfunding Nerds, about how to make people aware your game exists. Also, be sure to check out Andrew’s crowdfunding marketing course, and if you sign up through my affiliate link, you’ll not only get a ton of resources to help you market your game but also a FREE one-hour coaching call with me. https://crowdfundingnerds.com/bgdl/ The po...

My game design book, Find the Fun, recently came out, and in this episode, I do a brief synopsis and give you the audio version of the first three chapters. To check out Find the Fun on Amazon, go here: https://amzn.to/4hmxseU The post My new book will help you find the FUN appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

In this BGDL rewind from June of 2020, Corey Konieczka breaks down his entire design process. Corey has several games ranked in the top 100 games of all time, and it was incredibly insightful to learn about how he brings a game to life. We chat about his path into the industry, his prototyping process, the challenges of working on IPs like Star Wars, when to walk away from a design, and more! The...

In this BGDL rewind from May of 2019, Elizabeth Hargrave dives into all the ins and outs of designing an engine-building game. We chat about her personal design process and all the interesting obstacles she encountered when designing Wingspan. We also talk about how to layer concepts on top of each other, balancing winning strategies, creating a satisfying conclusion, and more! The post How to Des...

In this BGDL rewind from April of 2020, 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 How to Design Games...

In this BGDL rewind from December of 2020, I chat with Emerson Matsuuch about all the many ways a designer can use math to create better games. We talk spreadsheets, game balance, mathematical models, and more! The post Using math to make your games better with Emerson Matsuuchi appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

In this BGDL rewind from May of 2018, I chat with Richard Garfield about finding the right balance of luck vs skill when designing a game. The post Finding the Right Mixture of Luck and Skill with Richard Garfield appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

In this episode, I answer a bunch of questions that were submitted by BGDL community members! The post Your game design questions answered appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

In this episode, Joe Bragg, founder of the indie publishing company Meek Heroes Gaming, discusses the grassroots approach he’s taking to building his publishing company. We chat about why this approach makes sense for a lot of people, the pros and cons of not using crowdfunding, how to build a community from the ground up, and a whole lot more. I also dive into the slightly different approac...

In this episode, Jason Perez and I chat about how designers can boost their creativity by thinking outside the box, pushing past tropes, and being more intentional about their thematic choices. The post How to Boost Creativity and Avoid Tropes | Jason Perez appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

In this episode, John de Campos, founder of Terrible Games, and I chat about the highs and lows of starting and running an indie publishing company in the board game industry. The post Listen to this BEFORE you start an indie publishing company | John de Campos appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

In this episode, I break down some game design productivity hacks that have been helping me lately, and I’m specifically talking about a concept called “habit fields.” This was a presentation I gave recently for Board Game Design Pro, so if you find it useful and want more helpful content like it, be sure to check out BGDP here . You’ll find all sorts of skill sessions on d...

In this episode, Leo Taylor, designer of games in the Risk, Clue, and D&D universes, breaks down his “key pillars of game design” as we chat through the many questions designers should think through as they dive into a new game design. You can download a PDF of the key pillars HERE . The post Do this BEFORE designing a game | Leo Taylor appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

In this episode, Joe Slack and I talk about how we’ve both been able to piece together lots of different revenue streams in the gaming industry to be able to make a full-time living from game design. And be sure to check out Joe’s latest puzzle game here: http://kck.st/3SfV1Np The post How to Make Money from Your Game Design Hobby with Joe Slack appeared first on Board Game Design Lab...

In this episode, Elan Lee, the creator of Exploding Kittens, talks about his venture into creating games for small children. Elan has been designing the games alongside his four-year-old daughter, and we talk about the process of designing games both for and with small kids. We also get into the business side of things and discuss marketing, manufacturing, and more! And be sure to check out the ga...

In this episode, Geoff Engelstein and I chat about design theory and break down Geoff’s favorite examples and how they relate to designing games. Geoff’s book about loss aversion can be found here: https://amzn.to/3rIgi7y More info about the Tabletop Network Conference can be found here: https://www.tabletopnetwork.com The post 4 Amazing (and Useful) Examples of Board Game Design Theor...

In this episode, Jason Greeno and I chat about the current boom in the print-n-play side of the market, and we dive into how and why more designers should create printable versions of their games. You can find a ridiculous number of PnP games on Jason’s website, PnP Arcade . And you can find his game, The Cursed Managerie, on Kickstarter HERE . Here’s the best PnP Facebook group . The...

In this episode, Pam Walls and I chat about the games on our “must play” lists if you’re a game designer. And be sure to check out Pam’s awesome channel about game design here: https://www.youtube.com/@pamwallsgamedesign Here are the games we discuss: -Imhotep -Dungeons & Dragons -Catan -Chess -Magic: the Gathering -Robinson Crusoe -Kemet -Creature Comforts -Twilight Im...

In this episode, Rob Daviau and I chat about how to playtest, receive feedback, iterate, and playtest a whole lot more. The post How to Playtest like a Pro with Rob Daviau appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

In this episode, Jay Cormier and I chat about how to teach game design concepts to others and help them become game designers. And be sure to check out Jay’s new game design activity book HERE . The post How to Create More Game Designers with Jay Cormier appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .

In this episode, I chat with Ben Downton who designs games and runs the publishing company Prometheus Game Labs. We chat about how lonely design work can be, how to balance being creative with running a business, Board Game Arena, and more! And here’s the Board Game Arena article mentioned in the show: https://prometheusgamelabs.wordpress.com/2023/08/14/how-a-game-gets-on-board-game-arena/ T...

Kyle Sussenbach and I chat about how to get started in creating a publishing business and how to go from absolutely nothing to launching a crowdfunding campaign. The post 10 Steps to Go from Nothing to Crowdfunding Campaign with Kyle Sussenbach appeared first on Board Game Design Lab .