At GDC I sat down with two students for 40 minutes so they could ask me any questions they had about the game industry. It was very helpful for them, for which I'm glad. They then asked me why I took the time to sit down with them in that busy week. It's because folks did that for me 15 years ago.

Heading to GDC - who else will be there?

Going live to talk about how to get hired as a game designer… www.linkedin.com/events/74266...

speaking of cool cheap effects: the shadow from the ceiling fan in Robo Recall is not a real shadow or even a light function or even a decal, it's a rotating translucent mesh

"Couldn't have played that baby any better." Learn more about these quotes and more: @strangescaffold.bsky.social www.twitch.tv/doomerdinger...

what are you doing!

Caves of Qud on the Nintendo Switch

Despite this amazing positivity, I still managed to lose it all~

@strangescaffold.bsky.social What have you done. There is no joy in games. Only bleak darkness left. Elden Ring. Witch Hand. Dispatch. Their times have passed. Every day, another day of neglect. When will you allow us to trade the space babies? You must release fun back into the universe.

Player experience is comprised of numerous techniques that are hard to learn in isolation. This bootcamp will teach you how to improve your game for audience, balance and gameplay gamedesignskills.com/courses/poli...

Just had an incredible first session with the new Mastering Game Mechanics cohort at the Funsmith Club. Everyone from industry designers on concord to first-time designers who just want to level up were there!

Anyone know some other asset packs with non-humanoid monster animations in addition to ones by Protofactor?

How do great gameplay loops keep players hooked? 🎮 I chat with @xelnath.bsky.social (League of Legends, World of Warcraft) about balancing rewards and punishments to craft unforgettable gaming experiences. 🎧 Listen: bit.ly/alex-brazie-... #GameDesign #GameplayLoops #AlexanderBrazie

🧵My 6 main takeaways from this guide to environmental storytelling in games by Brandon Dolinski (Minecraft Legends, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Marvel’s GotG level/world designer) ⬇️

@amirsatvat.bsky.social whoa look who’s here!

#NarrativeDesignTip I wrote an article for GAME DESIGN SKILLS (@xelnath.bsky.social) about: How To Apply the 3-Act Structure in Video Games gamedesignskills.com/game-design/... #narrativedesign #gamewriter #narrativeDesigner #gamewriting #videogames #3actstructure #writing #writingTip #writer

closely related to a key insight in one of my fav underdiscussed books, "Collaborative Circles": members of historically notable collaborative circles have tended to form especially high-trust pairs & work within these pairs to develop ideas before presenting them to the wider group

People LOVE to talk about 3-act structures, but what if you're a game designer and not a hollywood script writer? Well, @kellybender.bsky.social has you covered: gamedesignskills.com/game-design/... Check out this article, courtesy of www.gamedesignskills.com

#gamedev folks - I’m looking for others to share their game design expertise to the next generation. Hit me up if you’d like to write a paid knowledge base article or make a class on specializations of game design.

Ever heard the terms skill floor and skill ceiling? What do they mean for game designers? gamedesignskills.com/gaming/skill...

Kelly Bender (@kellybender17) has collaborated with us to create this phenomenal guide to #worldbuilding. If you aren't sure where to start on your path to #narrativedesign skills, check this out: gamedesignskills.com/game-design/...

Making a good game is only half the battle. Getting your game seen is just as important as building it. However, for many devs, marketing and selling their game isn’t something they’re passionate about.

Alright, here it is: I collected ~100 #GameDev starter packs and put them all on one Notion page! ✨ They're categorized by: 🍃 Location 🍃 Discipline 🍃 Game Genre 🍃 & more! It also includes tips / labellers / block lists that I've stumbled on. I hope this helps you settle in & reconnect! 😊 👉 LINK

Us having to rebuild and reconnect our entire network again on Bluesky

Sara Costa, of Mageseeker fame, wrote this incredible article on Boss Design. If you've ever wanted to understand how to hit the gameplay and thematic elements of boss inspiration -- read this NOW: gamedesignskills.com/game-design/...

If you ever wanted to create a side-scroller, this masterclass of an article by Itay Keren is the best out there: gamedesignskills.com/game-design/... Another free resource from us to you :)

My latest #gamedev interview is up with @xelnath.bsky.social to talk about the lessons they've learned about game development and understanding design over their career. youtu.be/D2JHZEN9Pkg

Look at that...I wrote a full overview of Combat Design for aspiring game designers! Game Design Skills is becoming like a textbook for explaining the actual CAREER of #GameDesign, so I was thrilled when @xelnath.bsky.social asked me to write this article.

🎙️ bit.ly/alex-brazie | 📽️ youtu.be/NXYMGDZgp8o In this episode, @xelnath.bsky.social helps unravel the secrets behind player-centric game development. #AlexanderBrazie #GameDesigner #GameDesignAdvice #GameDesignSkills #BlizzardEntertainment #Riot #TheCornerOfStoryAndGame

4 Gameplay goals you should strive for: Clarity - players just get it intuitively Motivation - players find it desirable Response - players can work out the problems themselves Satisfaction - players feel good about victory Achieving these puts you in the top 1% of designers

Another great framework for solving gameplay bloat quickly: Cut all you think is core to the class Play only with the fluff skills Count how often they actually help Calculate how much power they need to be actually useful Many of those skills add less fun than you think.

90% of great mechanics design is really just: - Consistently apply fundamentals - Iterate on opportunities - Save premature ideas for later The timing, consistency, and insights are your keys to great design.

Mastering a niche in design unlocks the freedom to break the rules of that niche. Unfortunately, we don’t get taught how to do this. For 20 years, as a designer, I focused on gameplay, systems, and mechanics. Here are 5 pieces of advice to help you escape the beginner’s prison

Are you looking for support after the recent layoffs or feeling uncertain about your #gamedesign portfolio? We’re offering free portfolio reviews over at the Funsmith Club discord.  Hop in and share what you’ve got! Get help here - discord.gg/GMxgxptwpu

3 tips on player archetypes:P eople are complex with varied motivations: Most models oversimplify They still help you break out of your own limited view See how player archetypes shifted over the last decade here:

Modern level design has split into two families:  Mission design (think Call of Duty levels) World design (think open world Far Cry landmarks) While it’s not an exact separation, they come from two very different perspectives.

Do these 3 things to create more visceral #game #combat: * Utilize timelines for character animations * Trigger sound and visual effects on the timelines * Get features needed to preview attacks in editor! Adjusting game feel will be an ongoing process within the game engine.

Understanding player archetypes is not just about time; it's focused learning and strategic application: Dive into Player Psychology: * Analyze Game Analytics Intensely * Observe playtest sessions * Iterate and Refine Designs * Create Tailored Experiences You create a language for your players

“Physics engines are incredibly powerful. Why isn’t it used in World of Warcraft or League of Legends?” My answer: * Multiplayer games are incredibly expensive to run * Physics is expensive to calculate * Keeping all clients in sync with the combination of the two is incredibly difficult

gamedesignskills.com/game-design/... It’s easy to complexity creep when you design game elements. Players get overwhelmed by cognitive overload. Relevant depth is how much of the game players know about, how much they are capable of interacting with and so on. #gamedev #gamedesign

Have you struggled with developing or starting a video game prototype? Just jumped right in and just started making the *real game*? You might benefit from this article on the types of prototypes, why and how they flow together gamedesignskills.com/game-design/...

Be silly 😝

Put together a #gamedesign Beginner's Guide to Core Gameplay loops. After consulting at enough companies that just didn't get it, I hopeful this gets people started off on the right foot: gamedesignskills.com/game-design/...

I spent the first 12 years of my Game Design career working on gameplay and systems balance; so it was time to put an article together on the essential concepts for doing the job! gamedesignskills.com/game-design/game-balance This is easily the longest article I've written in a long time. #gamedev

Did you know Metroid 2 was illegally cloned three times? Here’s the story of one of the developers and how it defined his future: https://gamedesignskills.com/game-design/podcast/episode-7-milton-guasti gamedesignskills.com/game…

A quick history: Game Designer - Warcraft, League of Legends, Ori and a TBA Action Adventure game. Now I consult to help #GameDev teams level up. New to game dev? Check out http://www.gamedesignskills.com New to running a studio? Check out http://www.atomech.com

I've transferred most of my #gamedesign post mortems over to GDS! https://gamedesignskills.com/game-design/post-mortems/ Come and learn from the lessons of my own mistakes :)

New article in the works for www.gamedesignskills.com~!

The best folks came out to haul axe and chew bubblegum.

What’s an aha moment in making your own games?