The Board Game Design Course

This was an article from a few years back that I was looking over and wanted to update, as so many Facebook Groups have come and gone since then. I’ve updated this article with about twice as many helpful groups for you to check out. I hope you enjoy this post!

I received a great question recently from a follower, Kingsley, and thought I would share this question, along with my thoughts on how to market your games. I’m going to paraphrase the question here:

There are many game design-related Facebook groups that I am sure everyone uses, but what are their
main purposes (some have rules about not being able to post certain things, etc)?

There are dozens of different Facebook game design groups out there focusing on all different aspects of game creation, marketing, and playing games! I’ll focus on some of the best groups and how to use them most effectively.

Ok, here we go…

The Board Game Design Lab Community – This is a great, welcoming place for new and experienced game designers alike. Founded by Gabe Barrett, who also produces the excellent Board Game Design Lab podcast, this is a community where you can ask questions about anything related to game design and get answers from many individuals. This is a good group in which to post questions, help others, and participate in game design challenges. This is my favourite group of the bunch.

Board Game Hype is another great place to go for game designers with a very active community.

There are a number of groups focused on Kickstarter. Many of them have either become inactive or have been taken over by spam. However, there are also some great groups for discussing marketing and launching your crowdfunding campaign. One of the best in my opinion is Crowdfunding Nerds. It’s an active community with a lot of experienced crowdfunding creators, so you’re sure to learn a thing or two from the folks in this group!

Other big board gaming groups with tons of board game-loving members include Board Game Revolution Community, The Board Game Group, Board Game Spotlight, BG41 (Board Games for One), and Solo Board Gamers (you might be surprised to hear this last group has over 66,000 members – solo gaming has become quit big!).

Just don’t go throwing links up and strictly promoting your game in these groups though! A much more effective approach is to post questions, help others, and look for advice from those more experienced than you. There is an opportunity to have others critique your Kickstarter page or other aspects of your campaign. Just be ready to take feedback!

Also, make sure to look at the group rules to see what is acceptable and what’s not. Some groups have certain days you can self-promote or a specific post that you can highlight your game. Others may allow a specific number of self-promotion posts per month or don’t allow any self-promotion at all. So, make sure to review the rules before you post about your game!

If you’re looking for a chance to meet with publishers, the Designer/Publisher Speed Dating group might be just what you’re looking for. You can post sell sheets to get feedback and find out about upcoming speed dating events. Just note that this group is not nearly as active as it used to be.

If you’re looking for artists, graphic designers, or art direction, check out Art & Graphic Design for Tabletop Games, Tabletop Game Art & Graphics Guild and Board Game Art Direction and Graphic Design.

Or if you’re looking for jobs in the tabletop industry, check out Tabletop Game Jobs.

Also, the Protospiel Group is a great place to learn about upcoming Protospiel game design weekends or ask for advice about starting your own Protospiel event!

Other interesting groups include Tabletop Game Publisher’s Guild (questions related to publishing your game), Tabletop Game Giveaways (contests being run – if you’re doing a contest, this is a good place to post it), and Board Games Launching on Kickstarter (lets people know your game is out there).

I hope this helps to clear up what good Facebook groups are out there and how to best make use of them.

What groups are you most interested in? Did you know that they existed?

Leave a comment and let me know!