Erik AS - Game Designer
@eanderssonsunden.bsky.social
Works as a Board Game Designer (Whirling Witchcraft, Hungry Monkey, The Glorious Guilds of Buttonville, and Where is That?) and an Applied Nuclear Physicist.
In this week's video I reflect on the last 5 years of being a full time game designer, how I made the decision to go full time, and the various pros and cons of that career choice! youtu.be/1G_jXgo7CKQ Thanks to @eanderssonsunden.bsky.social and @connievdc.bsky.social for inspiration :) 🎲✂️
Reflections on 5 years of being a full time game designer
YouTube video by Matthew Dunstan
youtu.be
Fastaval permanently shaped me as a game designer. If you are interested to know more about this peculiar con, don’t hesitate to ask! During August, designers can submit their pitches. Please make sure to send in your pitches according to the text in the link! 🎲✂️ www.fastaval.dk/bliv-designer/
Bliv brætspilsdesigner - Fastaval
Er du i gang med at udvikle et fedt nyt brætspil? Og kan det nå at blive færdigt til påsken? Så ville vi elske at se det på Fastavals brætspilsprogram, hvor vi hvert år præsenterer en perlerække af ny...
fastaval.dk
📣 I’m excited to announce!! 📣 I’m partnering with Unstable Games to start a sister studio to them named… ✨ Ordinary Magic!! ✨ I’m so excited to bring 3 BRAND NEW GAMES under this new studio to you this Fall!!! 🍁
Ordinary Magic by Unstable Games - Gamefound
3 New Games, 1 Extraordinary World. Explore this visionary studio partnership between award-winning game designer Marceline Leiman and Unstable Games.
gamefound.com
Check out the design diaries of my friends! 🎲✂️ boardgamegeek.com/blog/1/blogp...
Designer Diary: Combo Creatures | BoardGameGeek Blog
boardgamegeek.com
Dieses Spiel bekommt wieder eine klare Empfehlung von mir. Eigentlich hab ich es für die Kinder gekauft, nun mag ich es aber selber auch - obwohl ich verloren habe… Man kann sich für jedes Spiel neue Kartensets zusammenstellen. So bleibt es spannend.
Bibbidi Bobbidi Banksy@barbarapabu.eurosky.social · 2w agoWieder ein neues Spiel mit einfachen Regeln, Katzen und Kakteen. Eine Mischung aus Reaktionsspiel und Strategie, eher nicht so meins. Ich fand es etwas langweilig. Vielleicht wird es bei mehrmaligem Spielen noch witziger.
Monster Academy in action. I really like the flow of this prototype of ours.
Are you excited about Abroad? Sold out at Essen SPIEL 2025 and now releases in English! Vitis us at Gen con, play it, test it and have a blast! BTW: if you want help out - vote here: boardgamegeek.com/geekpreview/...
Tabletop Together is now live with a link to the preview list of BGG and Spiel 26. Let the search begin! tabletoptogether.com/tool/games.php?unprioritized=1
Tabletop Together Tool
Helping you plan your convention visits. Now includes SPIEL '25.
tabletoptogether.com
“This is a special game. Very rarely does a special game come through my doors and this is one of them!” "It captures the fun you find in the best racing games... in a much easier to digest, smaller package!" "This just took the lead from Cozy Stickerville for family game of the year for me!"
Dino Racer Review - The Betting & Racing Game for Everyone!
YouTube video by Game Boy Geek
youtu.be
This applies to giving critique in board game design as well. State your opinion. Consider the recipient. Be aware of their skill level and try to adjust your critique to best meet their needs. In short, don’t be mean.
Ann Leckie@annleckie.com · 3w agoWhen you (an editor or a critique partner or a classmate) comment on someone's writing, you can absolutely deal them a disabling injury if you're thoughtless about it. I'm not saying anyone should be dishonest or refrain from pointing out issues. I'm saying
Is there anything I can help you with? Some creative writing advice, a book or boardgame recommendation, a bit of encouragement, or something I haven't thought of? I've felt quite low & anxious all this week & I'd quite like to make myself useful & help out some folks, if that's ok.
I had a great time with it. Just because it didn't make the list doesn't mean it didn't resonate with a lot of people !
The Glorious Guilds of Buttonville will be at GenCon! It is a joint design by me (Whirling Witchcraft and Hungry Monkey) and Christian Kudahl (Agent Avenue and MindBug). Please thumb it and go and play it if you have the chance! boardgamegeek.com/geekpreview/...
Gen Con 2026 Preview
Gen Con is the largest and longest-running game convention in the U.S. All preview lists on BGG are now self-service. Publishers add new games to preview lists themselves. Tutorial: https://shorturl.a...
boardgamegeek.com
You can find the full list at Explorers Design. It's like other people's lists with a few sites I think are woefully overlooked. I also omit some of the usual suspects because I think they're more trouble than they're worth—like Getty and Pixel's "public domain" galleries. Try these instead 👇
Public Domain Art Resources
Where to get public domain art and how to use it.
explorersdesign.com
Colorsym looks cool! Is anyone I know involved in the project? 🎲✂️ colorsym.com
ColorSym • Symbols That Speak Color
A free, open-source way to identify color when color alone isn't enough. Memorable symbols for base and combined colors in games, apps, print, and signage.
colorsym.com
I don't have the old articles. Old blog, long gone. I didn't have any inside information. Just used whatever I could glean from whatever I could see online. Much of it wasn't great. A better approach: interview publishing people about their challenges, and thus write from a place of greater rigor.
My day job quit me and I found out that you don't really need a lot of money to have a rich and fulfilling life. It helped of course that we paid off our mortgage and that my partner still has a day job.
I got a job doing it inside a company on salary. I got that job by writing essays about the business side of game publishing. Publishers have lots of challenges to solve, but few people write about them because everyone is focused on writing for consumers. Btw this channel is still WIDE open.
My partner having a full-time job that paid her well allowed me to push on freelance game design for 3 years. I didn’t have health insurance during that whole time. It was silly. But that work I did during that time allowed me to grow my design portfolio and game recognition.
Six years of consistent growth in design royalties (largely from Pandemic) was enough for me. As Elizabeth noted, healthcare was the biggest concern.
Careful not to burn the candle too long at both ends. And on the positive side: you have a rich life, enjoy every part 😌
"Designet finder en præcis balance mellem viden og risiko, hvor de mest dristige placeringer giver flest point, hvis du tør sætte Tønder længere mod vest end Esbjerg." guldbrikken.dk/hvor-er-det-...
Hvor er det? Danmark - Guldbrikken
Hvor er det? Danmark – Geografisk quizspil, hvor danske stednavne skal placeres rigtigt. Nomineret til Guldbrikken 2026 i kategorien Selskabsspil.
guldbrikken.dk
Almost exactly a year ago, I left my (stable!) job for full-time game design. Some reflections 1/ 🧵
Mostly Wyrmspan. My husband and I were working other jobs (no kids) so we had saved most of my first 1.5 years of WS royalties. My federal attorney job got *real* weird a year ago so I accelerated my plan to go full time. My husband still has a stable job + health insurance, which is huge.
I am already happy that I can work parttime, have more time to design/conventions/do things for our Dutch guild and have some income in return. It feels like a juggle, but I have come to accept that more and more (the paid job I like very much, so it is juggling a lot 'balls' I love)...
I had been heading in that direction already. Then my career path largely evaporated overnight so I needed to make a big change anyway. I'm almost exactly a year in, and so far I'm very optimistic about being able to make it work. WS has given me a huge cushion to get other projects in the queue.
For me it was a steady accumulation of games that we’re paying royalties, and then starting the Adventure Games with Kosmos made me confident for the first time of recurring income from a game year on year. Echoes came soon after in a similar pattern.
