Realizations about board game design that I haven’t found a better place for yet.
I’ve noticed that income—money that a player receives every turn in an upkeep phase—is often only necessary in prototypes because otherwise players would be capable of getting “stuck”. If all actions cost money, and players can run entirely out of money, income is necessary to get the player out of that position.
Another option to income, however, is to reduce the cost of all actions equal to the planned amount of income. If this brings some actions down to no cost (other than to take a turn or action point) and those actions provide an opportunity for a player to get back into the flow, then you don’t need to provide flat income. In Wingspan, you can always spend a turn to get 1 food, 1 card, or 2 eggs; you’re never stuck without resources. In Concordia, even without any workshops on the map, you can still produce 1 resource with your production action.
Switching to 0-cost actions allows you to remove an admin phase, further streamlining your game’s teach and player experience.