You know the device. You start with some tense and possibly wacky scene. Then the screen fades to black and the title card pops up: “One Week Earlier”. You’re now back in a comfortable scene and wondering how on earth the strange circumstance in the opening came about. This is a great technique. It’s also […]

I recently watched the new Star Wars film for the first time since its global premiere. I remembered being favorably impressed despite its awkward conclusion at Starkiller Base. However, I also remember leaving the theater thinking, “Kylo Ren is going to get a LOT of hate.” As funny as it is to see Kylo Ren […]

There’s a saying in writing for long-running series that you should only kill off a significant character if that character’s death creates more potential for stories than that character’s life. Design space in games ripe for expansions should be treated in a similar way. For example, let’s say you make an ability that lets you […]

My Cardography Interview was just uploaded. Listen to me get grilled on common design mistakes, tricks of the trade and all sorts of design topics. Click here for the link.

My family tells a story about a meatloaf. Apparently my cousin once asked my grandmother why shy cuts the ends off the meatloaf before putting it into the oven. My aunt thought about it and said, “It’s how my mother always made it. Her meatloaf was wonderful, so there must be a reason.” When they […]

The more design you do, the more you get the joke. The more mass-produced something is, the less remarkable it seems. However, the economies of scale mean that more money is riding on its success. You can bet that more thought went into the shape of your pen’s cap than most of the final papers […]

We all see these “intelligence tests” whizzing around facebook. Naturally they’re puzzles designed to make you feel smart, like many good puzzles in games are. You feel smart, so you share the puzzle. I design puzzles as part of my job, so I thought I’d dig into the design of a recent one that showed […]

Likely the most important thing to understand about design is that there’s no such thing as a universally bad design choice. You might be wondering, “Really? What about if your mechanic makes your audience panicked, paranoid and wanting to run away from the computer?” Congratulations, sounds like you’ve created the next great horror game. Design choices are […]

Listen Here or on iTunes. I feel naked. Stripping off the layers of secrecy that surround a campaign is like pulling back the curtain in OZ. Gone is the great and powerful wizard, the architect of civilizations. Meet the armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth. Ravenshadow daunts me. It’s my favorite campaign, […]

Podcast Still Here: click to go listen. I’ve wrapped up my recent world-building evening contract, so I have free time once more. Naturally that means diving right back into making podcasts about RPGs. By the way, I’m looking for other experienced GMs with great ideas who’d like to guest on the podcast. If that’s you, shoot […]