LOSTGARDEN

Photo by Rosa Dik Ah, the fall. A time to reap what has been sown and contemplate the cycles of the seasons. If you are a smaller game developer, you’ve likely noticed some cyclical shifts in how we make games. Games are looking nicer than ever, don’t they? That quality bar keeps creeping higher. With so much work to do, your team is a bit larger. And with so many mouths to feed, it feels […]

Let’s dream for a moment about sustainable game development. Game development is inherently unstable. Technology, markets, profit margins and teams shift regularly. Any of these can quickly destroy a previously comfortable business. Individual game developers end up dealing with unexpected layoffs, last minute moves across the country (or across the world) and a level of uncertainty can damage our relationships and long term happiness. In order to simply make ends meet, you end up compromising […]

Back in the 80’s and 90’s, when conversation about game design was first bubbling up out of our community of insecure practitioners, a few polarizing topics would arise again and again. You’ll recognize them: The correct definition of ‘game’ Narrative vs Mechanics Randomness vs Skill The importance of realism Casual vs Hardcore Many were (and are) merely the irritated observations of game players picking at specific games. However, with a flip of the rhetorical switch, […]

Many games have loot. Usually this drops randomly. Loot drops are a pretty mundane topic, but one that almost every designer runs into at some point. Here are some best practices I’ve encountered over the years. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to these tips and tricks. Your basic loot table The goal is to drop some set of items at a given probability. Let’s say when you defeat an enemy, you have a chance […]