iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Eric Lang @ericlang.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Studying marketing, as a discipline, with genuine curiosity, will make you a better game designer. Guaranteed. Or your money back.

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Eric Lang @ericlang.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

When publishers and designers say their game has been play tested hundreds of times, they're not wrong but The published version you're playing has likely not been tested more than a handful of times, and zero times is a distinct possibility. It's not a bug, just a feature of complex iteration

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in switching from hobby games to mass market games: The processes that are best for each kind of design are radically different. 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

My biggest problem with Pokémon: The game can end quickly and before much interesting happens, due to pure luck. 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

An interesting question to gauge the quality whatever you’re working on: If this was the ONLY work people ever saw of yours, would you be proud of it? 🎲✂️

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Elizabeth Hargrave @elizhargrave.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

One major purpose of TTGDA is to help tabletop game designers negotiate better publishing contracts. We just released the rubric of what we look for -- and info on how different publishers scored on the rubric. Soon we will also release a model contract. More at www.ttgda.org/contract-bas...

Tabletop Game Designers Association (TTGDA) Releases Scoring Rubric and Tabletop
Market Contract Analysis to Promote Equitable Industry Standards

Bridgewater, NJ – The Tabletop Game Designers Association (TTGDA) today announced the
launch of their Contract Scoring Rubric and publication of its Tabletop Market Contract Analysis
– 2026, a comprehensive industry report designed to share information about contract practices
and advocate for fair treatment, intellectual property protection, and designer involvement in the
tabletop game publishing process.
The report, developed by the TTGDA contract & grievance committee—led by industry veterans
Geoff Engelstein, Elizabeth Hargrave, Matt Leacock, and James Lowder—seeks to address the
wide disparity in publishing agreements across the industry. With many first-time game
designers accepting terms that may be disadvantageous, the TTGDA has developed a rigorous,
objective scoring rubric to evaluate publisher contracts.
“Our intention is to shine a light on these industry practices and lead to more equitable
standards,” says TTGDA Vice President Sen-Foong Lim. To assist in this effort, the TTGDA will
be releasing model contracts that adhere to the criteria established in the scoring rubric.
The full report can be downloaded at www.ttgda.org/contract-basics.
Key Industry Findings
The analysis of contracts from over 50 publishers reveals several critical areas where many
standard publishing agreements fall short of fair practices:
● Advances: Only two-thirds of publishers offer a baseline advance above the
TTGDA-recommended minimum of $1,000, while 20% offer no advance at all.
● Designer Involvement in Expansions: 40% of publishers retain the right to create
expansions without consulting the original game’s designer.

Intellectual Property Rights: 75% of publishers retain the rights to a game’s name after
the publication agreement concludes and rights to the design revert to the creator.
● Financial Transparency: One-third of publishers deny designers the right to audit their
books, and 10% include non-standard deductions to revenue before royalties are
calculated.
Moving Toward Standards
The Tabletop Market Contract Analysis includes aggregate results, with summary scores for
each individual publisher available to TTGDA members. However TTGDA would like to highlight
the top five scoring publishers (alphabetically): 25th Century Games, Fireside Games, Lunar
Punk, Plaid Hat Games, and UP Games.
“These results are not a call to avoid specific publishers,” says TTGDA President Geoff
Engelstein. “Rather they are a tool for designers to negotiate terms that include fair payment,
intellectual property protection, and a meaningful role in the final product.”
The organization plans to release semi-annual updates to the Tabletop Market Contract
Analysis as more contracts are reviewed and publishers revise their standard agreements.
About the Tabletop Game Designers Association
The Tabletop Game Designers Association is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization dedicated to
supporting designers of all types of tabletop games, including board games, role playing games,
card games, miniature games, and others, whether mass market, specialty, or hobby. Learn
more about us at www.ttgda.org.

Contact:
Geoff Engelstein
President
Tabletop Game Designers Association
president@ttgda.org
www.ttgda.org

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Eric Lang @ericlang.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I feel like most modern development is adding too many rules to solve theoretical problems to please too many people too often.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

My wife (a casual-at-best game player) and I (psychotic) were perusing the shelves of a board game store this week. After looking over the games, she paused and said: "It feels like they're running out of themes." 🎲✂️

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Matthew Dunstan @matthewdunstan.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

In today's video I explore an important, yet seldom noticed aspect of game design - game flow! youtu.be/JqspauIq0ls 🎲✂️

youtu.be

This is so important for game design...and you might not even know it

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Eric Lang @ericlang.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Game designers always tell me their game is “simple, everyone gets it” And then I watch them demoing at conventions doing 90% of the heavy lifting and repeating rules over and over. Your game ain’t simple, hombre. You just really like it.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

For every art, it’s more valuable to try to improve than to try to be good, …because improvement can be operationalized more effectively. This includes game design. 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

A difficulty of mass market game design: The Target and Walmart buyers’ tastes sometimes differ from the end customers’. In those cases, it’s like games have to pass through a filter that selects for the wrong thing. No shade though. It’s hard for anyone to grok customers unlike ourselves. 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

When I go to GenCon, I feel torn. It forces me to face the fact that my job depends on a rah-rah consumerism I reject. That ache grows heavier each year. 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

A common mistake in judging games: "The Enthusiast Bias" It happens when tests include an invested expert or enthusiast playing or teaching. Instead of testing the game, you end up testing their expertise, which masks what the actual experience will be for a normal group of players. 🎲✂️(1/8)

Tabletop game design tip of the day: don't accidentally test the players instead of the game.

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Matthew Dunstan @matthewdunstan.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

If you are interested in the story behind the design of the latest @postmarkgames.bsky.social title, Master of Coin, this week's video is for you! I go over the genesis of the game, and the different lessons I learnt about game design from it. youtu.be/XFcXpQWo8M4 🎲✂️

youtu.be

5 Design Lessons from making Master of Coin

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I'm the Director of Game Design at Taco Cat Games. I'll be at Gen Con Friday (July 31st) and Saturday (August 1st), taking pitches from game designers. Specifically in the Hyatt Regency Atrium. If you'd like to pitch, grab a half-hour time slot here: calendly.com/nickobento/g... 🎲✂️(1/2)

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I keep seeing board game reviews that claim, 'Once you understand it, it’s easy.' For a tabletop game, that's practically a tautology. Comprehension isn't the preamble to the game's friction; it IS the friction. (I guess there are exceptions for bad games w/ other inadvertent friction?) 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Last August, I took a new job as Director of Game Design at Taco Cat Games. The first game we've made in which I had a heavy hand is now for sale. The original designers are Ken Gruhl and Jeremy Posner, two of the best mass market designers alive. 🎲✂️(1/7)

The Box for the Taco Cat game POINTS FOR EVERYTHING

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Connie @connievdc.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Almost exactly a year ago, I left my (stable!) job for full-time game design. Some reflections 1/ 🧵

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Marceline Leiman is Racing Dinos @marcelineleiman.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Thinking more on this topic this morning Especially after seeing what a direct-to-retail success can look like with High Tide, I’m further unconvinced of the general crowdfunding / media pipeline connected to chasing hype and FOMO as a reflection of success or long term viability as a business

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Jon Perry @perryjon.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

For a while I've been noodling on a taxonomy of decision types. I'm not convinced it's fully baked, but I already have been using it successfully in my design process, so I thought I might share it here in its current form. At the moment there's 5 types.

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Joseph Arthur Ellis @jarthurellis.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

So much 🎲✂️ discourse is about the tactics of game design, e.g. clever ideas, weird techniques. But most of what you need to be successful at game design is strategy e.g. a schedule for iterations, a system for getting honest feedback, a commitment to not calling it done until it's actually great.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

This is a key design principle of Shigeru Miyamoto, the Nintendo designer who invented Super Mario and Zelda, and one of the greatest game designers ever. If someone that good advocates for a principle, it often pays to put serious focus on it. 🎲✂️(1/3)

Tabletop game design tip of the day: a good idea solves multiple problems at once

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

All bad games are alike. Each good game is good in its own way. - Leo Tolstoy, probably 🎲✂️

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Eric Lang @ericlang.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

If you want to be a full time game designer, your highest priority is to build a reliable playtest network. It’s a LOT of work. And there are infinite obstacles in your way. Individual and systemic. But it’s the price of success. You just gotta do it You can debate me on this, but I’m right.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Richard Garfield said something that matches my own experience: Too often, players call a game “imbalanced” because their first play blindsided them, or they didn't know how to counter something, and they lost. Instead of learning, they write the game off. 🎲✂️(1/3)

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Erik AS 🔜 Spiel Essen @eanderssonsunden.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

I love making player aids for my prototypes. They do several things for me at once: 1. The help me remember my rules. 2. They help the players understand the rules. 3. They force me to revisit and think once more about my turn structure. I think the third point is the most important part! 🎲✂️

a player aid from one of my latest prototypes. It is a co-design with Christian Kudahl and we aim to make a quick numbers game with some, to me, cool emergent game effects.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

We have an ancient, evolutionary instinct to acquire physical resources. For that reason, in games, players tend to feel more rewarded by physical objects than abstract quantities. Tabletop games are the perfect medium for this. 🎲✂️

Tabletop game design tip of the day: Favor physical rewards over abstract rewards

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Always Awake Games (Connor) 🔜 PaxU @connor.alwaysawake.games · 08/05/2026

New episode of Multiple Win Conditions! This time I’m chatting about how often you get told to “just stick to game design” if you ever mention self-publishing and how I don’t think the distinction is quite so clear. youtu.be/Tdzmkc4qQ7w?...

youtu.be

Just Stick to Design? - Multiple Win Conditions

YouTube video by Always Awake Games

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

True depth, the kind that allows Chess to be played professionally, is rarely discussed in the board game world. But to me, it's the most astonishing thing about games: that a few bits of wood and cardboard can create something humans can play with the depth and commitment of a pro sport. 🎲✂️

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Marceline Leiman is Racing Dinos @marcelineleiman.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Watching this video was *fun*! A very interesting analysis essay of what makes things fun to our brains! 🎲✂️ youtu.be/bMwfH8hJtRc?...

youtu.be

How to Make Anything Fun

YouTube video by Jonas Tyroller

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Forgettable rules degrade a game. They break flow and cause frustration. Four approaches to this kind of problem: 🎲✂️(1/6)

Tabletop game design tip of the day: cut or change rules that players forget

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

My definition of strategic depth: If 100 good players played a game full time and full throttle for years, and then spent a year writing a book about strategy, I’d want the book to be unusually fascinating. An intentionally subjective definition, as I believe games are experiences at root. 🎲✂️

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Marceline Leiman is Racing Dinos @marcelineleiman.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Who’s working on their art today? 🙋‍♀️ Every day is better when you get to do the thing you want to do, more than the thing you have to do. Remember to prioritize yourself during your day. Cherish the things you want—using that to encourage yourself to fight every day for it.

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Jon Perry @perryjon.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

I think a lot board gamers underestimate the depth of light games and overestimate the depth of heavy games. More moving parts does not necessarily mean a game has more strategy. It often just means there's more noisiness obscuring the impact of your decisions.

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Erik AS 🔜 Spiel Essen @eanderssonsunden.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

What is a game design advice you would tell your less experienced self? 🎲✂️

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Matthew Dunstan @matthewdunstan.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

In this week's video, I explore some of the different techniques I use to reliably generate new ideas for board game design! youtu.be/uo-MAq_7YxI 🎲✂️

youtu.be

How can you reliably come up with good game ideas?

YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan

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Reposted by Nick Bentley Makes Games

Mike Berg, We 🧡 Games @weheart.games · 06/04/2026

If you dread having to explain a rule in your game, that is a giant blinking sign that reads: CHANGE OR REMOVE THIS RULE 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Taco Cat Games is now taking pitches from outside designers. We've sold over 13 million games, through all major US retailers. Read about what we're looking for and how to submit here: bit.ly/pitch-taco-cat This thread also covers it so you don't have to click through. 🎲✂️(1/19)

bit.ly

How to pitch games to Taco Cat Games and what we’re looking for | Notion

We’re thrilled you’re considering pitching to us! First we’ll describe what we’re looking for, then how to submit your game and what to expect after.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Each bar here is top rating of the current #1 player for each of a bunch of games on Board Game Arena. The highest measured skill for each game on BGA. Azul, Boop, & Patchwork have the three highest. Not surprising: spatial mechanics are especially good at creating depth.

A bar graph in which each bar is top rating of the current #1 player for each of a bunch of games on Board Game Arena.

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Carol Mertz @carolmertz.itch.io · 26/03/2026

I recently saw someone try to make the "if a game is good, it'll find an audience" argument the other day and I've been mad about it since. Success is never guaranteed. You can do everything you can to improve your chances, but I wish more people recognized that quality work ≠ guaranteed audience.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

I asked designers what the ideal online game submission system would look like. Here’s what I've got so far: ✅ Be specific: the publisher should state exactly what it is (and isn't) looking for. ✅ Prep upfront: list all required materials and file sizes for submission up front. 🎲✂️(1/3)

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David Masnato 🔜 PAX U @davidmasnato.com · 27/03/2026

First of all, feedback like this from one of the designer friends I admire the most means the world. So thank you, Marceline! Second, this feels like a great opportunity for a lil chat on why my prototypes look like they do. If you're curious, follow along for a 🎲✂️ thread:

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

I'm the Director of Game Design at Taco Cat games, makers of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza (12m+ copies sold). We've mostly done internal design, with occasional, informal outside submissions. I'm now building a real submission system. Question: what does it need to be the very best? 🎲✂️

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

A rulebook should integrate words and pictures to guide the reader's attention just right. Words mixed with pictures can scatter attention, so the reader doesn't know where to look next. No one has more practice guiding readers through words & pictures than folks who make comic books. 🎲✂️(1/5)

Tabletop game design tip of the day: to write rulebooks, study comics

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

A trend in tabletop games that has taken me by surprise: Hobbyists' recent enthusiasm to play games with mass market mechanisms, like Flip 7, Magical Athlete, Hot Streak, etc. Until recently, hobbyists generally regarded the mechanisms of such games with contempt. What's changed? 🎲✂️

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Taylor Shuss @drawnonward.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Was chatting with a game designer friend about sell sheets - and as I was thinking about how I use them I came across a stark realization None of my signed games had sell sheets exchanged between me & my publishers. Not a single one.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Picture walking into a huge convention hall stuffed with 5,000 new tabletop games. That isn't a historical archive; it's just one year of new releases. In that sprawling ocean of cardboard, wood, and rulebooks, only 10 games will become the defining hits: The elite 0.2%. 🎲✂️(1/3)

Tabletop game design tip of the day: consider your in-progress designs guilty until proven innocent.

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Nick Bentley Makes Games @nickbentley.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

"Sometimes, one must explore completely baseless assumptions to learn new things"

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