Great Game Design in the Wild: Tennis Drills

Good design entertains; great design teaches.

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Weekly Round-Up: Godot Go Fast

Welcome creators! I want to say it right up front: this round-up is not usually going to be overwhelmingly focused on the Godot engine. Since I brought it up last weekend, however, the Little Open Source Engine Who Could (Maybe) surprised us all by jumping into the mainstream news. We’ll get into just what happened and what it might indicate for the near future. Also: developing for streamers, classic arcade talk, and more!

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On Dreams and Design Iteration

An alternative philosophy to consider when projects and other collaborations break down, and a look at how Hasbro took a collection of imperfect classics and made them new.

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Playing Under Pressure with Weakest Link Contestant Spencer Scott

Weakest Link contestant Spencer Scott calls in ahead of his debut on NBC’s popular game show to talk about his experience, his mindset under pressure, and the early experiences in his life that may have helped set him on his path. We also take a look at the design of The Weakest Link, what makes it compelling, and what might make for a successful video game adaptation in the modern day.

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How Players Learn and How to Teach Them

It’s time for a mini-show full of things to know! I’ve sort of been bouncing catchphrases like that in my head for the better part of a day, and I’ve determined there are no good ones–but that may be the fever talking. I was in the throes of a full Man Cold for this episode, but I landed on a topic I liked a few days ago and I decided not to rest until I could be sure the show went out on time. 

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Checking In on Triple A with John Schiber

John Schiber returns and we talk about the highs and lows of the latest round of triple-A games. We also check in on our ongoing Unity game project and share a few more stories from GDC.

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#GameDev Breakdown podcast – Looty Christmas

In our inaugural holiday show: Apple admits they’re slowing down your phone, they also led the charge in requiring transparency in the loot box process. StoryBundle has great books for gamers and devs on Christmas break, Steam has probably already pried your wallet open for the Winter Sale, and we try our hand at designing some questionable Christmas games on the fly. 

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Absurd Christmas Game Design

Initially, we planned to make a Christmas game for the site. Nothing elaborate, we just wanted to put together something for friends and site visitors to toy with, so we could say happy holidays in our own special way. Turns out it was a lot easier to just say it into the mics during a podcast.

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