Grappling hooks - they’re not just for movement any more! #gaming #gamedesign #roblox

The fact-based learning in this game is the least important learning going on, in my opinion. #gaming #gamedesign #roblox

Superheroes are an altruism fantasy, not a power fantasy, so "who would win?" questions are largely beside the point. Plus, the real answer is always whoever the story needs to win.

Learning games can be hard to build progression systems for. Leaning into creativity and personal expression like this game does is one strong solution. #gaming #gamedesign #roblox

Learning games often benefit from reducing uncertainty. Learners respond differently to risk and you don’t want to scare them off. #gaming #gamedesign #roblox

In A Perfect Day, a game about childhood in mainland China, you go to an Internet Café that also rents consoles per hour - the thing I keep saying was extremely popular in the global south. AFAIK English doesn't have a word for those, it's just "arcade", so English-speakers tend to overlook them...

Trusting the player community to handle key aspects of the game, like judging, can be risky but sometimes it’s the best way. #gaming #gamedesign #roblox

Hello from Minneapolis.

This game is not complex to me, but I’m not the audience. #gaming #gamedesign #roblox

Welp, time to retire, people seeing this is going to wipe out a solid half of my business... (OK, only partially kidding, but seriously this is an incredibly effective technique)

one of the imperatives of our times is to redefine what success means we have allowed it to mean excesses of wealth and power. what if we instead aspired to wisdom, compassion, generosity and fairness? what if we held people who embodied these concepts up as the paragons of our society instead?

Attention! Lil’ Guardsman is at its deepest discount ever at 80% OFF!!! My mom says it’s worth at least $100, so honestly you’d be wild not to grab it for $4 😍 If you like cozy, chaotic, funny games, this one’s for you. Thanks for supporting indies like us! store.steampowered.com/app/1924360/...

Truck-kun is Supporting Me From Another World?! You owe debt to the buff isekai elf girl living in your head. Run over pedestrians, make deliveries, and defeat the Skeleton King! Coming Soon to Steam and Xbox Series X|S 🚚💨 Wishlist now! store.steampowered.com/app/3642010/

Take a trip to sunny 1920s Miami in A GOLDEN WAKE, a historical fiction adventure game with one of the most unique settings you'll ever play! Get it for 80% off until May 1st! store.steampowered.com/app/307570/A...

impossible to overstate how poisonous this shit is. dudes on the street smiling and waving at your toddler are an indicator of a happy and functional community

Knowing how much information to give the player to get the right emotional response is an important game designer skill. #gamedesign #rebuild

Rebuild is one of my favorite games of all time. Such great worker assignment strategy that also gives you all the right tools for dynamic storytelling. #gamedesign #rebuild

Peak game dad energy.

I normally praise games with the verb in the title, so should I complain that this is a fake out? You can’t directly perform a build action, so why is “build” in the title? Oh, but I can't be mad at this game - it's too fun. #gamedesign #rebuild

The feel of the interface matters. #gamedesign #helsingsfire

Pacing level progression isn’t just about adding more challenge. It’s also about giving players time to relax. #gamedesign #helsingsfire

I often start my experimentation for puzzle games by making levels semi-randomly, but that’s just for exploration. Heuristics quickly appear that provide scaffolds for future generations of levels. #gamedesign #helsingsfire

Lights are something that players intuitively understand and have an obvious and visible effect on a scene. The way light radiates from a source doesn’t need lots of explanation, and having monsters respond to light and darkness just makes sense. #gamedesign #helsingsfire

Helsing’s Fire is a great old game that I feel has been forgotten. There was a boom in innovative puzzle games in the early mobile days but the industry has pivoted so hard since then. I fear that some of these worthy ideas don’t get the love they deserve. #gamedesign #helsingsfire

Always love actual game documentation examples!

Good piece on a slice of the economy I’ve only peripherally encountered.

When I get stuck on a puzzle, it gives me a chance to think through how I might have designed it differently. In this case, given that it's mass market, I might have had backup hints that appear over time. #gamedesign #starwarsoutlaws

It’s not on my syllabus but I try to bring it up most semesters.

You heard it here first - the AAA videogame industry might be in for some tough times ahead. #gamedesign #starwarsoutlaws

I say stealth is about visual communication here, but it’s also about other senses, which is another reason it’s hard to do. Visual is easier to communicate to players than other senses. #gamedesign #starwarsoutlaws

I haven’t shipped any big open world games, but I did have the honor of working on one with some true masters at Avalanche when I was at THQ. Unfortunately, that game never shipped. #gamedesign #starwarsoutlaws

Big open world games can be hard to analyze because they have a lot going on. There are many modes the player can enter, each with their own mechanics - in this case, stealth, combat, driving, puzzles, and more. Analysis of the game requires dissecting each of them. #gamedesign #starwarsoutlaws

"No Kings" organizers & Indivisible plan to use their lists to build support for General Strike on May Day. Dozens of unions are supporting the effort, too. paydayreport.com/no-kings-org...

I was thinking of paying to go see Hail Mary again in the theater since I enjoyed its political messages, but now I guess I won’t.

I wouldn’t call this a cozy game, but I think it borrows cozy elements in interesting ways. #gamedesign #tinywings

I don’t usually talk much about the visuals of games. I’m the game design dad, not the game art dad. #gamedesign #tinywings

Games are not about reality. They are, at most, about the player’s expectations of reality. #gamedesign #tinywings

Give players what they want. Because making them want things is harder to do. #gamedesign #tinywings

Do you prefer games with lots of verbs, or one verb explored deeply? #gamedesign #tinywings

Placeholder assets in a game should look obnoxiously temporary, so obvious that no one would mistake it for the final asset. In past games we've used the doge dog (rip) as an icon, hot pink versions of characters, our CEO's head, etc. If you use a temp asset that seems passable, it may stay there.

been feeling kinda stressed lately so I made a little prototype is this anything

For seasoning your weekend, I recommend a five-to-ten minute dash of Super Hexagon to add that Chipzel heat and Cavanagh bite.

Integrating well-known intuitive actions into your more complex gameplay can make things easier for everyone to digest. #gamedesign #babaisyou

Great game. Worth any price.

As an English student I consider words to mean what they fucking mean

I wrote up what the Iran War and crisis in the Strait of Hormuz means for the world. If this continues to spiral, we may be heading for a very different world than the one we currently inhabit. The last bit of normal may be gone for a generation. www.thedissident.news/the-last/

Monetization always has an effect on the games that succeed in a marketplace. The games you see on the top charts aren’t just the ones that are the most fun, they’re also the ones that have a valid economic model for that ecosystem. #gamedesign #babaisyou

They’re not wrong, but I think firing 30% of the industry might also have an effect.