Lessons
Something that a lot of game players and developers like to talk about is those semi-rare occasions when a study comes out discussing the benefits of playing games, as opposed to how they are turning people into murderous drones. That…
Category Game Design
Agency and Narrative: Half-Life
All of this was originally an illustrative example within the earlier post Agency and Narrative. However, at one point this example ended up taking up about half the essay, so I decided to post it up later as supplemental material.…
This is Halloween
Short update today, things have been busy. I think I have some bonus material I can put up to compensate on Monday morning though… I, like most white people, am fond of Halloween. There’s a few things I like about…
Exploring Transgression 1
There’s a huge subject I’d like to tackle, but it’s a bit difficult for me to pin down. It’s something I feel very strongly about, and because I feel so strongly it tends to bleed into a lot of apparently…
Artificial Neuroticism
In games everything has a clear cause and effect. If you get your face stomped by a cyclops, it’s because you forgot to re-equip your Axe of Extravagant Evisceration after using the Feather Duster of Tidiness for that side-quest, or…
Agency and Narrative
“Anyone who prioritizes the delivery of narrative over support for player agency fundamentally misunderstands the nature of the medium.” – Bizarro Hepler I recently encountered this quotation in my twitter feed, and it got me thinking. I generally agree with…
Hard Mode
An enduring problem with single player games that rely on challenge for appeal is that they allow for mastery. Once these games are mastered, there is no longer any challenge to them, and thus no appeal. Due to fluctuations in…
Reduction of Metaphor
I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience…
Announcing: Eve
I am pleased (albeit scared) to finally be able to announce this project. Eve is a game concept that has been lurking in the back of my mind for a couple of years, and I’m incredibly excited to finally see…
Ludum Dare 24: Epilogue
Ludum Dare ended five days ago and now it’s in the voting phase, where everyone plays everyone else’s games and votes on them. There’s 1406 of them, though, and I’m being incredibly remiss and have only rated 10 or so…