Reddit mentions of Paid to Play: The Business of Game Design

There's two sides to the Game Designer coin: One is developing a good set of rules which are enjoyable, stable, and of appropriate complexity, while the other is creating a good physical prototype which can reasonably be used for heavy playtesting.

Developing a good set of rules is a vague and nebulous thing, and counterexamples can be found for virtually any advice someone gives you. There are a few constants, however:

• Make sure your game doesn't contain any false choices: If a player is given a choice, there should be strategic value in all possible options. Cake or death? It's not really a choice at all, is it? Similarly, if moving Admiral Reinhardt from his starting position overwhelmingly leads to his demise, there's not really a reason to move him at all, is there?
  
  
• Study some Game Theory, but don't get lost in its ivory towers. Game Theory can quickly transition from discussion of the interaction of game mechanisms and various game types into purely abstract mathematical concepts indistinguishable from a college-level Calculus class.
  
  
• Dabble in computer programming. This may seem completely unrelated, but a games rules are actually a system of logical instructions, and one of the most common problems with amateur game designers is that their game will literally "crash" with unhandled exceptions or edge cases. If you understand how computer programs work, this will help you create a stable ruleset, which you should strive for before you...
  
  
• Playtest. Repeatedly, often, and with a wide variety of people who do not know you personally. Take notes. Try to keep in mind who your target audience is: People who are primarily Monopoly fans aren't going to have favorable things to say about Puerto Rico or Agricola. Listen to your target audience, but do not feel compelled to change your game for every complaint. Try to be objective towards your own ideas.
  
  
• Revise. Playtesting will always highlight problems, from the minor to the game-breaking. Sometimes you can fix things with just a new line of text in the rulebook, the addition or subtraction of some tokens, or changing the specific effect of a card or board space. Sometimes you will have to take the whole thing apart and start from scratch. Try to cast your net as wide as possible: A single rule which catches 12 problems is better than 12 smaller rules that catch 1 problem each.
  
  Keep bouncing back and forth between the playtest and revise stages until your target audience is pleased with the game.
  
  On the physical prototype side of things:
  
  
• Pawns - Don't be afraid to cannibalize existing games, or use off-the-shelf materials from Dollar Tree or similar stores. Shaped erasers, beads, or just cheapo chess pieces colored with magic marker can work fine for virtually any kind of pawn in a prototype.
  
  
• Cards - Thanks to places like ArtsCow, these are now the easiest part to get at factory quality. Failing that, print your cards on standard 8.5"x11" paper, cut to size, and place in a protective card sleeve with a regular playing card to add stiffness.
  
  
• Non-Modular Boards - Typically, boards don't actually require much thickness in order to be functionally playable. I tend to print on multiple 110lb cardstock sheets, trim to size, then use Post-it notes on the underside to hold it together while playing.
  
  
• Modular boards and tiles - This is perhaps the most tedious part, and it gets harder the more complicated your tile shapes are. The quickest way is to print on standard paper, glue to foamcore or chipboard, and trim to shape. For something closer to factory quality, print on 110lb cardstock, then glue the printed cardstock on top of 5 other sheets of cardstock. This will create a tile roughly the thickness of Settlers of Catan tiles. For higher print quality, you can print your graphics through a photo printing service (such as through your local Walgreens or Rite Aid), and use that as the top layer. If you're feeling particularly ambitious, purchase a Xyron Wishblade, and use it to cut shapes out of cardstock. It won't cut things much thicker than 110lb, though, so you'll still have to glue layers together for thicker tiles.
  
  
• Boxes - Strictly speaking, as a game designer, your prototype's box should be purely functional - Large enough to contain the game, and with enough marking to clearly identify the game within your collection. Tackle boxes and bead craft storage boxes are often good candidates for game prototype storage. If you have lots of playing cards, check the sports cards/collectible cards section of your local Wal-Mart type store: They should have multi-compartment card storage cases.
  
  As for actually getting your game published, that's a whole other matter.
  
  Some recommended reading: Sid Sackson's A Gamut of Games is not only a good collection of simple games designed by one of America's most innovative game designers, but also a fascinating look into the thoughts and methods behind the creation of those games. The Game Inventor's Guidebook is also good reading, and contains interviews with industry people - it's not completely up to date, however, and some of the interviews are more about a game as a product (A fast-selling game is "better" than a slow selling game), rather than concepts regarding balance, strategy, complexity, or innovation. Similarly, Paid to Play: The Business of Game Design gives some good insight into the industry in general.

A few books that, while more geared towards finding a publisher than what you need to do to publish games yourself, probably still have some good information about the business for you, especially the first one:

• The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook
  
  
• Paid to Play: The Business of Game Design
  
  
• The Game Inventor's Guidebook
  
  You could also try contacting someone who had a successful and shipped Kickstarter. They're probably more approachable than a major company, and they probably do things on a more budget-conscious level than some of the larger companies, which should make their advice pretty valuable for you.
  
  Good luck!