Need Game Design Source Material?

With upwards of 16700 games in its database, BoardGameGeek is quite a reference for people looking to troll for game design ideas. The game database is searchable, and also browseable by name, by player rating, and by category (including "Educational"). But the really interesting part for game designers is that it is browseable by game mechanic, so you could quickly browse through some games with, say, modular board systems.

Many games have their game rules posted in PDF form, often in multiple languages. Photos of the game boards, cards, etc., are also included in the archive, as well as the ability to comment on and correct the information associated with each game.

Just by browsing for a few minutes, I found some really interesting game mechanics. For instance, the entry on Reiner Knizia's Lost Cities card game showed an image of really interesting card gameplay. Although I haven't perused the rules, it is immediately obvious that the clever way the cards are arranged during play makes for an adventuresome, puzzling, and progressive mechanic, perfectly suited to a game of intrepid archaeological adventure.