Game Designers around the world are addicted to performance enhancing drugs and many of them don't know it. They are addicted to progression and escalation. As game designers we are often p...
Reposted with Permission. Also since I wrote the original article E3 happened and Sony has revealed a lot more of the stratergy, some...
My friends know I’ve been struggling to write this article for months, struggling with the tone and the question: so I ask you, Why? It’s the most important qu...
In a world of frameworks, simple to use engines and added layers of abstraction we are in danger of leaky abstraction, both in design and programming. While t...
Several weeks ago, triggered partly by work events and partly Diablo III release I started really thinking about why I play[1] What is Play to me and...
A video recently cycled through my friends’ social circles which I wanted to share. John Cleese talks about Creativity and Open and Closed thinking modes...
Take a moment, think back, past the nostalgia and sepia dreams so we can consider old, forgotten mechanics. The thing we love about games is that they are com...
In some cases the most destructive action one can perform on the creative psyche is to give it absolute freedom. The blank page, blue sky, and empty word document are am...
Sometimes you’re asked to design for the untestable scenario. For instance, design a system for 10,000 players to asynchrously interact in a persistent competit...
A designer does not need to be a programmer but understanding programming is key. One of the most valuable but more expensive skills for a designer to acquire is programming...
Excel is the brick and mortar tool for the designer. Through really any decent spreadsheet software will do and have most the features I list, so pardon the Excel centric explanations. With Excel you can build entire complex systems and mimic game systems. Allowing you to not only prototype systems but also balance and analyze them.
Our profession develops, we form conventions and a toolbox of useful solutions. These tools make us faster, and more efficient. Conventions are not only developer driven but player driven as we defi...
The Hidden Evil of the Micro Transaction. Over the last year a lot of time has been spent thinking, writing and developing my thoughts on social gaming and by extension micro transactions. The last f...
I’ve got a question: “Do you respect your designers?” Growing up I always wanted to make games, and gravitated to programming as the means to achie...
Disclaimer: I’m not claiming games which use these mechanics are in any way lesser. I’m merely highlighting these as easy ways to sauce up a game. Think of it like add ketchup / mayo / vinegar to...
So about two years ago I discovered the Lets Play phenomnia on YouTube thanks to Kikoskia and his awesome X-Com playthough. Which was a game I love and have played many times. I quickly discovered t...
Level Up - Scott Pilgrim style. On reflection of this month my NanoWriMo project which I was really keen on is just not going to fit into my spare time at the moment. In better news I'm now L...
So I've lost sleep over the last week because I've been trying to convince people Social games are not evil. I've had some good counter arguments thrown at me. Sleep lost. Counter Arguments and final...
As I currently furiously work on my Data Driven Dialogue system for the end of the month delivery and continue my job hunt with furious speed. There is one other project I desperately want to approach...
Need Intel? I'm loving Starcraft 2 at the moment, and it got me thinking about my love of imperfect information in games design. I strongly recommend A Game of Thrones (board game) and...
So I was listening to Another Castle interview the extremly interesting Eric Zimmerman . They were talking about the subverssive nature of play when my brain started drifting to tutorials, thinking...
Sales in a Can? There is no magic, silver bullet, secret recipe or hidden formula. These words have been spoken many times by more successful, intelligent and thoughtful people than me. Yet p...
The big choices I'm facing at the moment and playing around is on two fronts, GUI Behaviour and Render Pipeline. Fighting through some choices will post more shortly
I have been struggling with this concept ever since I was eight. Narrative vs Ludology. By Narrative I mean story-telling and Ludology I mean pure game play. Introduction. You see when I was aro...
News and Bits. Hi All, really working hard at the moment to get that last little bit of polish onto Encleverment. As anyone who talks to me can tell I really do love this little game and want to u...
Hi Again. I'm working like crazy on Encleverment at the moment so sorry for the late post. Just one attached note before the LARP post. I love MMO but I wouldn't be caught dead making one, why you a...
Hi All, I haven't forgotten about the MMO piece, the next part, "Problem: Didn't I just kill you? (Reality in a Persistent world)"will be up sometime Monday. I had a great time at Games Horizon conf
Hi all, before you ask I don't know how many parts this series will have. I have a rough outline of what I want to work through but nothing solid. Once it's all done I do plan to compile it into a mo...
Who Shall be King? Similar to the chosen one problem, but with a few more difficulties is kingship. Hierarchies are natural, humans are not anarchists by nature. Now if your playing with...
Okay I've found some topics I want to write a lot about, so I'm going to make a compromise and break them into smaller posts. Once they are all done I'll put together a complete article or podcast. F...