This post is a recap of my experiences running this year’s Itch.io Jam for Kids, including a few things you may want to keep in mind if you’re ever in charge of a jam yourself. On or around June 18th, my four-year-old asked me to make him a video game about trains. This was actually…
We’re in the last four days of our Itch.io Jam for Kids! I’m working hard on the train game for my son that started it all, and since I just unlocked our Patreon post on planning and prototyping a new game project, I wanted to provide more information about one of my productivity recommendations. As…
This post is based on a suggestion from our Patreon Writers’ Room by patron Charlie Cox. In this post I aim to run readers through the process of planning out and beginning work on a game intended for commercial release. I aim to keep “fluff” to a minimum here, but I will provide context where…
If you don’t think you’ve read or at least seen any of David L. Craddock’s phenomenal books on the game industry and game development, check again, you probably have. Some of the greatest stories of the development space have been captured in David’s phenomenal pages, including Blizzard’s early history with Diablo, tales from the days…
I’d have to do some detective work to figure out how long I’ve been Twitter pals with Say and Michael, but I’m sure it’s been a couple of years now. One of the greatest benefits of doing this podcast is having the opportunity to go beyond tweets and capture the stories behind the work and…
In this post, we’ll discuss the retro virtual console, Pico-8, why you might be interested in it, and tips on how to get started. Patrons saw this post first! Check out what we’re doing at Patreon to provide exclusive opportunities to our supporters! A typing game I prototyped for my son Pico-8, the fantasy console…
Thanks a ton to those of you who have checked in to see how we’re doing and what’s up with the site and the podcast. We have news! In an effort to help cover expenses for hosting here and for the podcast, we’ve opened a Patreon account for the community! I want to state right…
Michael Hicks has released more creative projects since his late teens than some folks get to throughout an entire career. His top two game releases, Pillar and The Path of Motus, have been downloaded half a million times across a wide variety of platforms. When Polygon investigated Valve’s shortcomings in supporting Steam developers, Michael’s sharp criticism for Valve’s…
Story-driven games are often revered as the height of artistic game development. For as dearly as we all hold Rocket League, it can’t match the impact of Mass Effect or tug at the heart strings like Red Dead Redemption. To create a project that stays with your players, you need to design a world for them to experience. When…
Following a few discussions on social media in the wake of Ludum Dare 43 (enjoy my photo from LD19), I took an opportunity to gather my thoughts on this revered tradition of ours and ask a few important questions: Why do we do this? Why do we do it like this? Should we still be doing this? Believe…
