(Note: This essay was originally published on Gamasutra.com in 2007. To help prevent link rot, I’m reposting it here with minor edits and fixed links. I’ve also included a workshop presentation on the topic if folks want to teach these ideas in their classes.) 1. Moving Beyond Alchemy “…it was clear to the alchemists that “something” was generally being conserved in chemical processes, even in the most dramatic changes of physical state and appearance; that […]
As game budgets expand once more, the success of a title often depends on producing large amounts of high quality content. This is not a trivial task. Mistakes setting up your content plans can easily result in panic, shipping delays, scope cuts, rework and crunch. Modern developers live on the content treadmill so we might as well embrace it. For a long time I’ve been interested in content architectures, the tooling and data structures behind […]
For Project Horseshoe 2019, an annual game designer think tank, our workgroup investigated how economics could help promote prosocial values. You can read the other reports here: https://www.projecthorseshoe.com/reports/ Attendees: Randy Farmer, Joshua Bayer, Tryggvi Hjaltason, Erin Hoffman-John, Daniel Cook, Ray Holmes “What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.” — Kurt Vonnegut, […]
For this year’s Project Horseshoe, an annual game designer think tank, our workgroup investigated small-scale MMOs. You can read the other reports here: https://www.projecthorseshoe.com/reports/ Our group consisted of: Alexander Youngblood, Game Designer at ArenaNet Amy Jo Kim, Chief Executive Officer at Shufflebrain Crystin Cox, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft Daniel Cook, Chief Creative Officer at Spry Fox Erin Hoffman-John, Lead Prototyper at Google Isaiah Cartwright, Game Director at ArenaNet Kyle Brink, Director of Production at […]
For this year’s Project Horseshoe, an annual game designer think tank, our workgroup dug deep into how to design cozy games. What a productive, happy group of people! You can read the other reports here: https://www.projecthorseshoe.com/reports/ Our group consisted of: Tanya X Short Anthony Ordon Dan Hurd Chelsea Howe Jake Forbes Squirrel Eiserloh Joshua Diaz Daniel Cook Ron Meiners: Moderator Overview Coziness is a common aesthetic in popular games such as Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley, yet […]
In November of 2016, a small group of veteran game designers got together in a remote portion of Texas for a think tank called Project Horseshoe. Our workgroup dug deep into how design can help build meaningful relationships within games. You can read the other reports here: https://www.projecthorseshoe.com/reports/ Our group consisted of: Daniel Cook, Spry Fox Yuri Bialoskursky, Electronic Arts Bill Fulton, Microsoft Michael Fitch, Betterrealities.com Joel Gonzales, Wargaming.net Introduction The issue In many online multiplayer […]
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 […]
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