βIf you were turning on one cheat to make your game much easier to beat, what would it be? This tells you a lot more about your game than anything else.β Heard this from a YouTuber called Surnex, and got me thinking. In reality thereβs a lot of ways to cheese the idea behind this […]
When working on Rise of Shadows at Blizzard Entertainment we had an extra slot for a mage Epic, and not much time left to experiment. I knew a lot of mage players loved playing a bunch of spells in one turn, using mage’s cost-discounting effects to turn 1-cost and 2-cost cards into free flurries of […]
Let’s talk about “Net Fun” in PvP games. If your game is only fun when you win, you have a big problem. Matchmaking can’t fix this. Given a 50% win rate, Humans still feel the impact of losses more intensely than we feel the benefit of gains (thanks “loss aversion”). I think about it like […]
I’ve thrown out “Easy to learn, but hard to master.” Goals like this are all over the industry, and they just aren’t useful. This is the kind of goal I use instead. Here’s why this is so much better: Let’s say you’ve thought of an interesting new mechanic for your Roguelike; such as letting players […]
Here’s how we solved a huge problem that led to players feeling dumb, frustrated, and mad at themselves… When they should have been mad at us. Faeria is a unique strategy cardgame where players build the board they play on each match. Most of your focus is on the cards you’re playing, but you also […]
Do you know the “Draw-Forward” Formula? It’s one of the most useful tools for helping players ππππ₯ π¬π¦ππ«π. You can use it in almost any genre where players make build, gear, or loadout choices. It works extra-well in Roguelikes. When we make strategic choices in games, we’re looking for the best value. However, we’re bad […]
Want to know why games like Clash Royale offer 4 choices at a time, when 3 appears to be a standard? Last time I talked about why Slay the Spire, Hades, and many more games offer only 3 options at a time and got a great response, so I’m back for more. I explained how […]
Want to know why so many games offer just 3 choices at a time? Slay the Spire with card picks, Hades with its boons, and many more default to just 3 options to pick from. Why? Here’s why: It’s baked into our brain chemistry. There’s also specific reasons to use 2, 4, 5, or 8. […]
