Links to articles or videos made by other fine folks that we found interesting.
Steambirds: Survival , the sequel to our original steampunk airplane strategy game was just released today. You can go play it right now ...
In this still-relevant piece from 2010, Daniel Cook of Spry Fox discusses how building a game around modes rather than levels can result in more depth, fun, and longevity. Obviously narrative games have different priorities, but there’s a lot to consider here for the design of systems-based games.
I’ve written numerous times about why many people tend to not care too much about scores in videogames. In these writings, I explained that the reason for this is that videogames score syste…
I often don’t care about point scores in single-player games, even when they aren’t ruined by multipliers, and this article (and its two linked predecessors which are apparently not still up on that site but are available via the Wayback Machine) convinced me it’s because most games use scores badly. Keith Burgun, lead designer at Dinofarm Games, discusses the philosophy of score that informed the design of then-upcoming game Auro, and it’s one I can get behind.
How to better set up your (game) communities for kinder user experiences.
Healthy communities don’t just happen. Victoria Tran, Communications Director of Kitfox Games, lays out what to consider when creating and maintaining a space for a game’s community, and in particular how to bake kindness into the community’s design.
Former Chinese Room lead Andrew Crawshaw on his romantic metal-detecting adventure that explores how people define success
Andrew Crawshaw discusses the disadvantages of “increasingly time-hungry” games that try to monopolize players’ lives and attention and leave little room for variety of experience. He also points to some of the underserved niches available - for example, given the popularity of Let’s Plays, why not create official edited recaps of major games?
By hook, or by crook, customers will always find a way to connect with each other.
This look back at a couple of online games from the 1990s and 2000s shows that content moderation is a timeless problem and that if you give players a way to interact with each other, they will use it to circumvent your filters and communicate in ways less restricted than you intend. Wholly-automated prevention of harassment and obscenity may be flat-out impossible in a shared world.
A guide about how to stop putting terrible achievements in games.
It’s nearly ten years old, but this fourteen-point guide by Greg McClanahan of Kongregate is still by far the best resource I’ve ever seen for learning how to design good achievements and avoid common pitfalls. I still say it should be required reading for anyone designing achievements.
A former Microsoft user researcher writes about how you can’t always trust the data in front of you
John Hopson, former Microsoft user experience researcher, tells a story from the development of Halo 2. I’d love to get more insights like this into how UX research has shaped game design and what lessons have been learned from it.
This particular case is a reminder that people are often incorrect about what they’ll enjoy, but also and more pointedly a reminder that it’s easy to misconstrue your own data. Research telling you that users expect to dislike a design choice doesn’t tell you that they actually will dislike it. It’s important to design user tests carefully and understand what they actually teach you, lest you confidently lead yourself astray.
At Gamelab 2019, Vlambeer's Rami Ismail talked to PUBG's creator about the darker side of making a global phenomenon
Rami Ismail of Vlambeer and Brendan Greene of PUBG discuss some of their experiences with online threats and harassment they’ve received from people who play their games.
It is completely insane that we’ve reached the point where having a successful game means people who are frustrated with bugs or slow updates or design choices will sometimes respond with intimidation or violence and this is just normal. We call it “toxic behavior” or “fan entitlement” and just encourage developers to protect their personal details as best they can. It’s just the price of success.
Yooka-Laylee has the kind of story that we love to dissect here
Yooka-Laylee is an object lesson in many ways, but most of the focus has been on the customer side - the perspective of the developers is also fascinating and useful. Here, Playtonic discusses their experiences and lessons learned. To me, the key takeaways are:
Studio founder Zach Barth discusses the beauty of seamless loops, and why screenshots are more important for indies than trailers
For many, a lot of the appeal of creative problem-solving games like those made by Zachtronics comes from being able to share solutions within the community. If packaged well, this can also be an excellent source of grassroots marketing for a game. Given that, it’s surprising that Zachtonics basically stumbled accidentally into letting players export GIFs of their creations.
Zach Barth also notes here how screenshots are often more useful than trailers for actually showing off a game or learning about one, due to less pressure to be cinematic and increasing willingness to show UI, which conveys a lot about what you actually do in a game.