I’m always surprised to find people are still playing and caring about some of my old games that I haven’t thought about in years. Today I was emailed a question by a player who sent me a character sheet with this description. I got a chuckle reading it. Yes, it’s all rules-legal in the system […]

Loyal readers, I have sad news. Due to work pressures as Faeria nears its early access period, as well as some technical difficulties, I’ve been unable to keep up with my weekly series. We’ll be back in action as soon as possible. The GM’s Guide has had the longest delay so far, while I’d luckily prepared […]

  This is not a joke. If you’re giving people direction, just give people direction. Tell them, “Press Enter”. Then if they press something else, you can still start the program anyway. When you ask people to make a decision in something they’re unfamiliar with, all our evolutionary instincts to avoid making decisions before we […]

Many games offer focused, simple experiences. Other games, like CCGs, miniatures games, fighting games, RPGs, mobas and more tend to offer a diverse menu of playstyles. This is one of their strengths, as lots of different players can enjoy the same game together. They can also provide variety for players, offering the option to change […]

Enter the dungeon! How do you suggest flight in a top-down game? How do you teach mechanics without a single instruction? Why are maps, compasses and boomerangs in so many 3D zelda games for no real reason? Let’s dig in.  

The original Legend of Zelda on the NES was one of the first open world games. I played it for the first time last year, and it shockingly still holds up very well. So I made a video analyzing the design of the opening section and the core combat/movement mechanics. There’s a LOT of surprising […]

There’s a tendency I’ve noticed in myself and other designers to try to fix everything in a game by focusing on the core mechanics, the basic rules of the game. When I was working on the Kayn Somos expansion for Star Wars: Imperial Assault, my first instinct in designing my mission was to look for […]

It’s time for the epic conclusion with the final boss! We explore how the designers gave this fight depth and a process of evolving discovery, as well as creating a sense of paranoia with a few simple mechanics. A fitting climax to an extraordinary game. Why couldn’t the other bosses be this good?  

Games are processes. Designing processes interests me. Designing a security screening process for airports is similar to designing a game. It just has different design goals. Looking at complaints against America’s TSA security process reveals some design lessons. First off, a lot of people think the process is stupid. It’s inconvenient and repeatedly misses things. […]

Our fans have told us that they love our critique-a-card segment when we analyze the design of a single fan-made MTG card. Well how about a whole fan-made booster pack from a fan-made set?  How’s that for a holiday gift! You can find the whole wonderful episode here.