Last week, I had just 8 hours to design a combat system for a client. I’m fast, but that wasn’t enough time to design a core gameplay system. However… It was 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 enough time to design 3 of them! Surprisingly, and there’s some science on this, designing 3 solutions often takes less time and mental […]
The Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cardgame’s world championships were a beautiful disaster. I’ve never seen anything like this. To understand what just happened, I need to explain what banning a card truly means to a trading cardgame, and what it implies about what’s going on the dev processes behind the scenes. Banning a card from competitive play […]
Got a complex game? Have you tried turning the tutorial into a 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝? Curiosity is one of the strongest drivers of human motivation. It can even override rationality and survival instincts. If you put a sign on a door that says “whatever you do, DO NOT OPEN THIS DOOR” we all know people are going […]
When I run into a difficult design choice, where multiple options look good for my goals, I ask myself 3 questions: 1. How important is it we get this decision right? If a decision can be easily changed later, or is a choice between multiple good, workable options, might as well just pick something and […]
Last night, a colleague asked me how I analyze the market potential for a game’s gameplay. I told them that most people over-focus on trying to predict the game genre’s core appeal. Novel experiences become smash hits and create *new* genres after all, so there’s something else going on. I told them this: “You always […]
You’ve probably seen Jenny Nicholson’s phenomenal documentary on the Star Wars Hotel. If you haven’t, consider watching it after reading this piece, as it’s a fantastic look into real-world level design, theming, gameplay, logistics, and where a sense of “value” comes from through the nerdiest lens possible. While explaining the booking experience, Jenny makes a […]
When debating whether something is worth removing from your game, try flipping it first. Ask yourself “if this wasn’t in the game yet, would we be desperate to add it in?” For example, a highly controversial statement from a lead at Mojang Studios was about the iconic Creeper. He pointed out that if the Creeper […]
Need to make a task feel less daunting? Try adding 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 requirements. This works because the extra requirement triggers Endowed Progress Effect. By adding an extra 30 smithing requirement, the designer makes the Enchanted Armor quest feels easier to complete than its 30-magic-only version. The player feels like they start with some “free” progress towards […]
Let’s talk about the biggest incentive-alignment problem in Pinball: The 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞. Pinball builds escalation into its game design through the use of upgrades and special modes unlocked during play. Players accomplish objectives by making specific shots, often somewhat risky, building up to a game state change that massively increases scoring potential – and often […]
Airline Pilots follow safety checklists to reduce crashes. Even for decade-long veterans can forget to do the obvious. Same thing for F2P game studios. This is my F2P Checklist I bring to every game studio when I’m analyzing their projects. It’s surprising how few studios have strong answers for each of these key boxes prepared […]
