did Portal actually /directly/ influence games & their design more than, say, DOOM? not necessarily. but it's interesting that a disproportionate number of designers have it lurking in their landscape, stewing, simmering, whether or not they work in shooters or in narrative design.

if it sounds like most professional designers we surveyed were North Americans over 30 who mostly worked in console or PC games that is in fact the bias (the Polaris organizer network). Maybe in a few years we'll redo it more widely... could we get 300 designers.. 500?

We asked 167 pro game designers what games influenced their work, and aggregated the results into a top-100! I'll thread the list here, but if you wanna cheat, head on over: polarisgamedesign.com/the-polaris-... Podcast with more nuance: www.gamedeveloper.com/design/are-t...

designeritis - the condition in which, after learning or practicing the craft of game design, your intrinsic joy of playing games "for fun" is damaged, lower, or difficult to sustain. sound familiar?

Game Design is Simple, Actually: "fun is basically about making progress on prediction" and the nature of good problems www.raphkoster.com/2025/11/03/g... by the enlightening @raphkoster.bsky.social

my bio on the other place was once "creating elaborate excuses for inherently enjoyable activities", so, like, I am definitely sympathetic to the idea that a thing games can do is provide a way to do a thing a player wanted to do before they saw the game

Player fantasies are one form of player contract. If only someone was writing a giant-ass paper on player contracts... @polarisgamedesign.com

we are preparing a report aggregated from a survey of 165+ pro designers! each was asked "what 10 video games most influenced/inspired you personally?" which individual title do you think will be at the top and why?

some reading that we are told influences pro designers: The Atrocity Exhibition - J. G. Ballard (x2) The Simple Art of Murder “Nudge” (2008) Culture series - Iain M Banks Force of Art - Krzysztof Ziarek Artificial Hells - Claire Bishop Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Here - Richard McGuire

Hello, Bluesky! If you love thinking, talking, and/or writing about game design, check out our starter pack! go.bsky.app/AsBK784 We're an organization committed to tackling the toughest problems in games and sharing what we learn with the world!

I have worked with Laura a ton and there's no one more dependable. Completely hilarious and professional. Can adapt to anything. When I see an impossible narrative obstacle down the tracks I try to get Laura hired so the train doesn't derail.

Live now, it's Crimson C'Tuesdayyyy! Come hang out and let's do pixel art and look at photos of mushrooms and play games! www.twitch.tv/a_maplemystery

Designers talk a lot abt the stories they want to tell through games. But what about the PLAYER's story? How can we empower players to tell THEIR unique play story to each other? Let's amp up the "tellability"! Here's 7 design tools for player stories: polarisgamedesign.com/2022/a-toolk... (thread)

Welcome, new followers! We're a group of game designers trying to push our craft forward through deep thought, collaboration, and open minds. We think, we chat, we write, we experiment. How do YOU explore and improve as a game designer, besides making games? (Reposts welcome)

Let's talk System Visualization! As designers, we often lean on visuals to help understand, communicate, or simply use a system. But which visuals??? This report (polarisgamedesign.com/2022/when-sp...) suggests we "PAUSE" and consider: - Purpose - Audience - Usage - Scope - Emphasis (Thread!)

History in the making! A Polaris co-director's game is up for its first playtest, check it out:

Consume Me won the Independent Games Festival Grand Prize this year. To learn more about autobiography, narrative, visual art, and game design, please play it, as it's out today! Thanks to @qdork.bsky.social for your contribution to our art form! store.steampowered.com/app/2359120/...

Roguelike celebration — loveliest community, most inspired virtual conference space, greatest juxtaposition of in-field and out-of-field topics if you haven't been, come this year! October 25-26 🎲💫 if you have, welcome back! see you there

this year I'll call out the back-to-back Day 1 pairing of Cole Wehrle and Jeff Lait. Games are awash with brilliant people but even among the field, Cole & Jeff stand out as design thinkers I'm breaking down doors to listen to

Roguelike Celebration is one of the best game design events every year, with talks on systems, generation, and innovation. This year they have speakers like Michael Brough and Tyriq Plummer, and in the past have featured various Polaris alums. Sign up: www.roguelike.club/event2025.html

Sometimes your game has strong themes. Sometimes strong mechanics. But... why not both??? 3 new design tools for connecting theme + mechanics: - Tone Bridge - Consonance & Dissonance - Thematic Excursions read the paper: polarisgamedesign.com/2022/practic... (thread of highlights follows)

September's Crimson Gazette is out now! www.thecrimsondiamond.com/CrimsonGazet... ✨I'm being interviewed by #GDoC2025 TODAY!✨, my @narrascope.org talk is up on IFTF's Youtube channel, @adventuregamegeek.bsky.social bakes thumbprint cookies, Mini-Maple Mystery art, & more! Read all about it! 📰

A reminder for anyone into urban worldbuilding 👇

this is for science*: tell me about a time when you experienced loss in a game, and were genuinely bummed out for awhile. did you come back from it? no mockery or comparisons or arguments please, just curious the kinds of moments that folks think of. *or art, you know how game design goes

Tune in to Game Devs of Color Expo for game design topics: Design Leadership (today, 12:35pm EST): by @noorjamin.bsky.social Game Literacy (tmw, 5:20pm EST): by @designermonicat.bsky.social Plus others about production, sensitivity, mental health.. get your ticket: www.gamedevsofcolor.org

Game Devs of Color Expo starts today! You can still grab a ticket if you want to tune in, and learn from a great group of industry leaders! www.gamedevsofcolor.org

There's something amazing about game designers at the peak of their careers taking time to share advanced techniques. Because they care. Because they know in their hearts that we are in this together.

Playful Narrative: A Toolbox for Story-Rich Mechanics explores ways to more deeply integrate narrative into game mechanics, or, as the work group said, to enhance the experience of “playing” with story.

It's interesting that Polaris game design papers thus far have often gravitated towards "pro-social" (mechanical) as a useful design terminology, whether it's designs around groups or individuals, rather than Cozy or Wholesome (aesthetic).

I put down some thoughts about game design, what it’s good for, and what it isn’t good for in this zine! Plus, a short guide to help get you started making a game if you’ve never done that before: gregisonthego.itch.io/rulebooks-fo... ✂️ 🎲 ✊ 🔥

I had a lot fun chatting to Ellie about all things designers can do in working with publishers in the board game industry - hopefully a lot of useful information for designers :)

Kind Games: Designing for Prosocial Multiplayer is a game design report exploring "multiplayer games designed from the start with systems that deliberately promote prosocial behaviour". Come for the charts, stay for the design patterns to use in your own games: polarisgamedesign.com/2022/kind-ga...

We recently finished our 4th conference! I'll work through posting about the backlog of finished papers (from 2022-2024) before sharing little previews of this year's papers.

Hi Bluesky! Polaris Game Design Retreat is an annual event where game designers tackle tough problems together, then write reports on their discoveries. If you're looking for our reports, start here: polarisgamedesign.com/reports/