Facebook Pages & Groups
There are other places to get help on the internet like the BGG design forums or the BGDF, but I’ve found this year that Facebook has served me well. I personally run 3 or 4 groups/pages but there are many more that are active.
I’ve been spending a lot of time recently, attempting to keep discussions relevant to the page they are posted to. Face it, who has the time to read dozens of posts each day – especially if they are not relevant to your current interests.
So, I thought I’d share a listing of pages that I find most helpful on Facebook. Be kind and don’t pollute.
DISCUSSION GROUPS
Card & Board Game Designers Guild (game design help)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/320445024722916/
Art & Graphic Design for Tabletop Games (art/layout help)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TabletopArtDesign
Tabletop Game Publisher’s Guild (publishing help)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TabletopPublishers/
Tabletop Game Kickstarter Workshop:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/630412297019422
Kickstarter Best Practices and Lessons Learned (crowd-funding help)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/KickstarterBestPractices/
The RPG Brain Trust (RPG creation)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/rpgbt/
Board Game Design Lab Community
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BGDLCommunity/
Tabletop Game Playtesters Guild
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BoardGamePlaytestersGuild/
Playtesters Wanted
https://www.facebook.com/groups/322599114904230
Consortium of Game Developers
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Consortiumofgamedevelopers
STARTUP Board & Card Game Designers
https://www.facebook.com/groups/528406633897241/
INDUSTRY GROUPS
Game Industry (insider talk – YOU MUST WORK IN THE INDUSTRY ALREADY)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/gameindustry/
Game Store Retailer (game store talk – RETAILERS ONLY)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/gamestores/
Game Retailers who back Kickstarter
https://www.facebook.com/groups/gameretailers/
Board Game Reviewers & Media
https://www.facebook.com/groups/boardgamereviewer
Designer/Publisher Speed Dating
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DesignerPublisherSpeedDating
Card & Board Game Designers Skill Exchange
https://www.facebook.com/groups/349024355566278/
PROMOTIONAL PAGES (press releases & news)
Tabletop Publisher Announcements
https://www.facebook.com/groups/gameannouncementsGRC/
RPG Kickstarter News
https://www.facebook.com/groups/430556803645272/
Kickstarter Calendar
https://www.facebook.com/groups/KickstarterTabletopCalendar/
The Boardgame Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/theboardgamegroup/
Kickstarter Board Games
https://www.facebook.com/groups/kickstarterboardgames
BoardGameGeek Crowdfunding Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/444598639306816/
Board Game Revolution Community
https://www.facebook.com/groups/boardgamerevolution
UK Tabletop Kickstarters
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ukboardgamesKS
Tabletop Promotions – Crowdfunding, Reviews & Giveaways
https://www.facebook.com/groups/tabletoppromotions
Board Game Exposure
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BoardGameExp
Euro Board Game Kickstarter Notifications
https://www.facebook.com/groups/434936473252663
European board game crowdfunding network
https://www.facebook.com/groups/EuBoardgameCfNetwork
European tabletop Kickstarter network
https://www.facebook.com/groups/EUTabletopKSNetwork
Boardgame Giveaways & Contests – Tabletop, Board, and Card Games
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TabletopGameGiveaways
Tabletop Kickstarter Late Backers & Pre-Orders
https://www.facebook.com/groups/255704404979930/
EVENT PAGES
Protospiel (game design convention)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2261144717/
NEWS PAGES
Topical Industry News
https://www.facebook.com/groups/132129343974864/
Board Game News
https://www.facebook.com/groups/373176966425055
LOCAL AREA DESIGN GROUP PAGES
Tabletop Game Designers Australia
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TGDAus
Midwest Tabletop Game Design (Milwaukee)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/315018301973567/
BOGA DAP (Greater Akron)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/119509201456458/
Board Game Designers and Play Testers of Austin TX
https://www.facebook.com/groups/177417465760051/
Colorado Game Design Collective
https://www.facebook.com/groups/285771471556867/
Dallas Designer Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dallasdesignergroup/
Gamer’s Grind Playtesting
https://www.facebook.com/groups/320445024722916/
Game Designers of Carolina
https://www.facebook.com/GameDesignersOfCarolina
Game Designers Guild – Syracuse
http://becauseplaymatters.com/
Game Artisans of Canada
https://www.facebook.com/gameartisans
Calgary & Area Board Game Designers & Playtesters
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1461771630746608/
Tabletop Game Designers of Halifax
https://www.facebook.com/groups/halifaxgamedesigners/
If you know a Facebook page that is ACTIVE feel free to leave it in the comments below.
~ James
Hi James,
I run Pittsburgh Game Designers – we’re still active, just building slowly. You can find us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/PittsburghGameDesigners
Thanks,
Jasmine
Is the game store retailer facebook page dead, or do you have to access it some other way?
Works for me… maybe you have to PM Mark Cracco for access?
I’ll try that, thanks!
James, under “Local Area Design Group Pages” you can add the Game Maker’s Guild for the Boston MA area:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/235094979981918/
We meet at least twice a month to playtest games and typically have ~30 people attend or events. Thanks!
Jeremy
There is a game design group in Columbus Ohio that meets the last Saturday of the month at the Columbus area boardgaming society. It has a Facebook page not much used, iirc cabs design… No URL just now, on by tablet I don’t know how to use that well 🙂