Uneven Balance
One of the most hazardous unquestioned assumptions of game design is that a game should be balanced. Don’t get me wrong, it certainly can be an issue if one tool is too strong, or many tools too weak, particularly in…
Tag Strategy
The Great Unknown
I find randomness a fascinating topic. Core to many game designs, a hint of randomization can cause the possibility space to explode in many directions, create a sense of mystery and possibility, and convert simple puzzles with straightforward solutions into…
Sword and Shield
The power of empathy is an idea that is simultaneously talked about way too much while hardly being understood at all. There’s two things that we get wrong when we speak of using empathy to resolve conflict. We talk about…
Interesting Choice
“A game is a series of interesting choices” – Sid Meier The above quote is one of the first foundational ideas one encounters when studying game design. Sid Meier, most well known as the designer of the Civilization series of…
Leaders
The conceit of strategy games is an interesting one. Most strategy games place you as the general of an army, or some other authority figure, and tasks you with managing an army or other complex system and directing it towards…
Prepared
I’ve continued to play a ton of Slay the Spire over the last few weeks, though I’ve dropped off a bit. Even when I’m not playing the game I like to think about the game. I’ve been thinking about one…
Folding Space
Recently, games-wise, I’ve been taking a bit of a break from my usual artsy and the pretentious indie fare to play a bit of Poker. Poker Night at the Inventory that is– what, did you think I had the money…
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…