I love talking about villains. It’s often a major productivity issue in my projects. I probably spend more time on villains than I should. They’re fascinating. It’s easy to make a solid hero, we can understand why someone would want to be good and why we’d enjoy spending time with them in a game or […]

People often ask me what resources I use to learn new tricks. I’m going to start posting great articles, posts, videos and so on that I come across. Today I’m planning to re-watch this excellent lecture I’ve talked about before. It’s an hour-long analysis of the process behind changing the time between shots of a […]

If someone thinks something is “meh” or even straight-up bad they don’t usually bother to memorize the creator’s name. There’s lots of bad art, writing, design and so on out there and we’re just browsing. Meanwhile, if someone thinks your work is good they’re much more likely to put the extra effort in to remembering […]

You know how I sometimes enthusiastically ramble about stuff? Normally I edit it down a lot and take out a lot of the life in the process for the sake of the busy listener. Today I just go wild. Dan Unedited and Uncut talkin’ about creating great villains. Check out this awesome podcast at: http://danfelder.libsyn.com/

At GDC I got the new title from White Wizard Games. These guys made the jaw-dropping brilliance that is Star Realms, a game that spread through game design circles like a sentient virus that preys on free time. Now they’ve released their take on the competitive fantasy cardgame genre, their answer to Magic the Gathering and […]

One theme I keep returning to in Magicka is how the core design of the initial levels is set up to encourage experimentation. Enjoying Magicka requires a very specific mentality different from a lot of other games. Progression is based on experimenting with inventing new spells. This is a huge issue for level designers. In […]

  Intelligent Design continues as we dig into Magicka. It’s great to be on vacation. I get all this time to look at awesome games.

It’s been a fantastic launch. Faeria’s been cruising at great ratings on steam and players have been creating awesome content that I’ve gotten to read and watch. You designers out there know how great that feels. Now I’m taking my first vacation in about 2 years. Time for a refueling. Going to be playing as […]

Episode 13 is up and you can listen to it here. Or on iTunes if that’s your jam. Traps have an incredible history in RPGs and they’re a MOUNTAIN of missed opportunities in most campaigns. It’s one of my favorite topics, I love designing a wicked trap. Let’s dive in. Hopefully we’re not diving into acid.