Running and working on tabletop RPGs is one of the best ways to practice game design. It’s how I started learning how to do videogames. Now that I’ve been a videogame designer for years, I’ve been going the other direction – pulling ideas from videogames and using them to level up my tabletop RPGs. I […]

I get questions about this from recent graduates all the time. Here’s what I tell them. First: Treat your dream job like a quest log. Pick a dream job you want to have in 10 years, maybe a lead designer or creative director, and look at job postings for it. Check their requirements. Follow them […]

The Question “Why don’t I just put all the best cards in the same deck?” “Why don’t I just use all the best abilities on the same RPG character?” “Why don’t I just use all the best units in the same army?” Many games with a variety of gameplay options run into this question. When […]

Dark Souls has one of the most annoying checkpoint patterns in any popular videogame. Even the developers seem to agree, as later games in the series have changed the pattern noticeably. The “soulsborn” or “soul-like” genre is just coming into its own, as games imitating the formula that started years ago are finally hitting digital […]

When designers first learn discipline, there’s a tendency to cut anything that isn’t the strongest gameplay experience. That gets you 90% of the way there. However, it’s possible to throw the baby’s rubber ducky out with the bath water while keeping the baby herself. In small doses, variety trumps quality. Try eating your favorite food […]

Often a designer will create content that seems to literally represent their theme when you read it, but creates a feeling that is the opposite of the intent. My favorite example of this is the board game Relic. In this game, you can play a variety of characters. There is also a mechanic called “corruption […]

I was recently asked to elaborate on the difference between an “interesting” decision and a “satisfying” decision, which I mentioned briefly in my previous post on designing for satisfaction. Dear reader, thy will be done. First to clarify: I’m only talking about design goals. You design differently when you try to maximize how interesting a […]

If you’re a student of game design, literal or otherwise, you’re going to run into a lot of seemingly contradictory advice from equally smart and successful people with proven track records of great design. How do you go about resolving this? Who’s right? What’s the true path? The answer? Often… Both people are right. Everything is […]

Inspiration is like opportunity. Most people wait for it, but it also helps to work hard to make your own with whatever you’ve got to work with. I’ve mentioned before that I do more work refining the design of my creative process than any individual project I’ve worked on, and it’s paid big dividends. One […]

“Fun” is a vague, elusive, concept and often trips up new designers trying to define their goals. In 90% of cases, you can replace the concept of designing for “fun” with designing for “satisfying”. What makes Fruit Ninja fun? Hard to say. What makes it satisfying? The audio and visual delight of slicing into the […]