All too often, whether in the news or in movies and television, people decry the supposed negative effects of video games. Whether this means claiming that violent games are to blame for school shootings (which they absolutely are not), or that they get children addicted to gambling (maybe don’t put gambling in your game, just…
Read MoreMaking Learning Fun: How Games Can be Used for Education
In November 2017 I wrote an article entitled “Game Design in Real Life: Gamification”. In that article I looked at how game design has been applied to real-world problems, such as fitness or *sigh* engaging with a brand. While most attempts at gamification are hacky at best and downright insulting at worst, there is one…
Read MoreMore Than Meets the Eye: The Secrets of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment
In last week’s article I examined some of the most interesting and common hidden mechanics in games. However, there is one category of hidden mechanics that is more varied and pervasive than any other – mechanics that adjust the game’s difficulty and balance. These mechanics are collectively known as dynamic difficulty adjustment. Dynamic difficulty adjustment…
Read MoreBehind the Curtain: Uncovering Secret Hidden Game Mechanics
Video games are a wonderfully unique art form because of the way they create experiences. Because you, the player, control what happens it creates a level of immersion and investment that cannot be matched by any other medium. You aren’t just watching something happen – you are making it happen. Shaping these experiences is what…
Read More