Oct 28, 2021Tarkov: Breaking the RulesEscape from Tarkov works much better than it should by conventional standards of “good game design”. As a matter of fact, it even deliberately weakens some of them and turns the resulting “issues” into strengths by applying a unique kind of core loop. The first-person shooter from Russian developer Battlestate…Escape From Tarkov9 min readEscape From Tarkov9 min read
Jun 5, 2021Games as Conceptual ArtLoose thoughts on, perhaps, surprising parallels. “In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work.” (Paragraphs on Conceptual Art — Sol LeWitt) At first sight, it seems that very few modern video games fit into the category of conceptual art that developed throughout the…Game Design5 min readGame Design5 min read
Dec 9, 2020How Crimson Company maximizes gameplay depthCrimson Company is quite different from most other card games. In fact, you could make an argument that it’s not really a “card game” at all, but rather a strategy game that happens to use cards as its core elements of gameplay. This is because the game was designed to…Game Design5 min readGame Design5 min read
Oct 28, 2020Spelunky 2: Fuel to the fire“In a game with randomized levels, people will keep playing just to see what comes up. But to make it more than a glorified slot machine requires putting together a collection of systems and rules that is worth understanding, behind a world that feels interconnected.” (Derek Yu in “Spelunky”, Boss…Game Design6 min readGame Design6 min read
Jun 29, 2020“Video games are too long”: Symptoms of a more fundamental problemShawn Layden, former PlayStation executive at Sony, recently re-initiated the good old debate of video games being “too long”, using The Last of Us Part II as an example. While he was primarily concerned with the sustainability of modern AAA development, all kinds of discussions about “entertainment value per dollar”…Game Design4 min readGame Design4 min read
Jan 18, 2020“Insta-Tournaments”: Multiplayer Solitaire?Celebrated among players at the time, but apparently largely unnoticed by game developers, Zach Gage invented a very special game mode for Pocket-Run Pool in 2018. The so-called “Insta-Tournaments” build on the established concept of “Daily Challenges”, where all players of a single-player game are given one attempt a day…Game Design4 min readGame Design4 min read
Oct 14, 2019Planning and Pre-Game DecisionsThe ability to plan ahead is at the very heart of what makes games fascinating. Thomas Grip of Frictional Games calls it the “core reason” for why gameplay feels good in the first place. That’s not too surprising once you consider the alternative. A game lacking the possibility to make…Card Games5 min readCard Games5 min read
Jul 26, 2019Sky and the Price of FriendshipIn 2012 thatgamecompany brought Journey to the world which is rightfully still being praised to this day as one of the pioneers of games as experiential narrative. Just a couple of weeks ago Sky: Children of the Light was released for iOS as a spiritual successor. …Gaming3 min readGaming3 min read
Jul 9, 2019When Games Idolize BusyworkMany video games feature elements of busywork. Some of them however, end up being dominated by it. Once the infamous “grind” takes over, it’s not about skill, competence or systemic reasoning anymore. Instead, the amount time sunk into a game becomes the main factor for the player’s success. …Games6 min readGames6 min read
Jun 3, 2019Games as Experiential NarrativeA while ago, I came to the conclusion that the term “video games”, as it is used these days, ultimately contains two fundamentally different art forms. On the one hand, gameplay-driven series of mechanical challenge, that primarily use their theme and narrative context to intuitively explain their rules. …Gaming5 min readGaming5 min read
