The 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, 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 post Game Marketing Made Simple with Andrew Lowen 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 post The design process of one of the world’s best designers, Corey Konieczka appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

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 that Tell Stories with Ignacy Trzewiczek 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, 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 approach my own publishing company is planning to take in 2024, so hopefully this episode gives you lots to think about if you’re interested in publishing games. The post How to Publish Games with a Grassroots Approach | Joe Bragg 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, 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, 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 games HERE. The post Designing Games FOR and WITH Young Kids with Elan Lee appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

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 post Why You Should Create Print-n-Play Games with Jason Greeno appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

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, 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/ The post How to Design AND Publish games with Ben Downton appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.