

The Board Game Design Lab
Gabe Barrett
The Board Game Design Lab was created for one purpose: to help you design great games people love. To accomplish that goal, this podcast interviews designers, publishers, and board game insiders on specific topics related to game design. I don’t waste time talking about recently played games or pop culture. Instead, the show does a deep dive into subjects that I hope you’ll find extremely valuable as you progress through your game design journey.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 29, 2020 • 1h 9min
How to Design a Collectible Card Game with Assad Quraishi
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 of gaming.
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Apr 22, 2020 • 1h 6min
How to Turn Your Hobby into a Business with Chris van der Linden
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 are.
And be sure to check out Chris’s latest RPG supplement on Kickstarter HERE.
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Apr 15, 2020 • 1h 1min
Accounting, Taxes, and Game Design with Justin Marty
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 to make sure you stay on the IRS’s good side.
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Apr 8, 2020 • 1h 7min
How to Design Miniature War Games with Marco Pecota
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.

Apr 1, 2020 • 1h 2min
Designing Games that Tell Stories with Ignacy Trzewiczek
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.

Mar 25, 2020 • 56min
The Secret Sauce of Game Design with Peter C. Hayward
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.
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8 snips
Mar 18, 2020 • 55min
How to Fund a Game on Kickstarter with Gabe Barrett
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 out my book on Kickstarter HERE.
The post How to Fund a Game on Kickstarter with Gabe Barrett appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Mar 11, 2020 • 1h 3min
What Board Game Designers Can Learn from Video Games with Charlie Cleveland
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.
The post What Board Game Designers Can Learn from Video Games with Charlie Cleveland appeared first on Board Game Design Lab.

Mar 4, 2020 • 1h 7min
Designing a Game System with Bez Shahriari
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.
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Feb 26, 2020 • 1h 5min
Designing a Betting Game with Victoria Caña and Alex Uboldi
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.
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