Ever since I started playing Yu-Gi-Oh with my friends in middle-school, I have been trying to design my own cards. I started out making new cards for the characters on the show to use (what if they made a fusion of Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Red-Eyes B. Dragon?!), and then moved on to making my…
Read MoreGoing Rogue-like: When to use Procedurally Generated Environments in Games
This semester I am taking a class based around the design of game engines, and in that class we recently had a brainstorming session for a game. One of the biggest talking points of that discussion was whether or not we should design the game to use procedurally generated elements, or design everything manually. Inspired…
Read MoreDollars and Sense: How to Monetize your Game
Hey everybody, I know it’s been a few weeks since last I posted but hopefully I can get back to my usual schedule. I just haven’t really been able to write these last few weeks – first I had to deal with finals, and then holiday travels. However, that is all over and I will…
Read MoreGame Classics: Lessons from Mario Part 2
Hey everbody! It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted but I am finally back. In the last article (which you can find here) I started talking about some of the early Mario games and the design lessons that could be learned from them. This week’s article is going to be a continuation of that…
Read MoreA Re-Source of Pride (Repost)
I know I promised a continuation of last week’s article this week, but unfortunately I will have to postpone. I will also not have any article next week due to Thanksgiving, but should be able to resume regular posts the following week. Instead, I hope you enjoy this article from a few months ago about…
Read MoreGame Classics: Lessons from Mario Part 1
A few weeks ago, Nintendo released Mario Odyssey, their first main series 3D Mario game since Mario Galaxy 2 in 2010. I have been a huge fan of these games since Super Mario 64, so naturally I picked it up as soon as possible. Since then I have been enjoying the game immensely, and it…
Read MoreGame Design in Real Life: Gamification
A few months ago, I wrote an article about game design lessons I learned from my honeymoon at DisneyWorld. In that article, I looked at some of the ways that design principles from other fields could be applied to game design. In this article, I want to go the other way, and look at how…
Read MoreHistory of Game Design: This Means War!
A few weeks ago I wrote an article describing some of the most ancient games of all time, known as race games (if you haven’t read it, you can check it out here). Today, I am going to continue this series by examining another very ancient category of board games – war strategy games. One…
Read MoreA Puzzling Endeavor: My Thoughts on the Design of Puzzles in Games
Recently I was watching an episode of House of Cards on Netflix, when they made an offhand mention of a game known as Monument Valley. Their description of the game intrigued me, so I decided to check it out. I downloaded the game on my Iphone, and I was hooked instantly. Everything about the game…
Read MorePutting the ‘C’ in ‘CCG’: Does Being Collectable Help or Hurt these Games?
Collectible card games are some of the most divisive types of games out there. There are those that love them dearly, and amass huge collections consisting of thousands of cards. On the other hand, there are those who refuse to touch them with a ten foot pole. While there are many reasons for this divide,…
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