The Bottom Feeder

JUNE 12, 2024

Baldur’s Gate 3 Has Mountains of Stuff Over the years, I've tended to make my game designs cleaner. One of the best articles ever written about game design is about Magic: The Gathering. In the tabletop game, wands recharge every day. That said, the balance in this game is very strong.

Fighting 89

Fighting Puzzle Writing Terrain 89

Game Dev Unchained

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

As we navigate this evolving terrain, perhaps the future of education is not about replacing traditional methods but integrating games as a complementary tool. In a world where ‘curiosity is king,’ game-based learning offers a compelling avenue for fostering a lifelong love for knowledge and exploration. .”

Indy 105

Indy Platformer AAA Educational 105

Grid Sage Games

MARCH 10, 2022

Some roguelikes don’t strive for balance, but maintaining balance has always been important to me for Cogmind, since it fits better with my vision for this type of game, heavy on tough, complex, and consequential decision-making at multiple strategic and tactical levels. Alien Artifacts. Exiles Prototypes.

Balance 52

Balance Mechanics Beta Prototyping 52

Designer Notes

AUGUST 31, 2021

The following is an excerpt from the Designer Notes for Old World. The game, a historical 4X set in classical antiquity, released on July 1, 2021, and is available for purchase here. The first Civilization game was like a game design thunderbolt, sent from the heavens and marking everything it touched.

Tile 40

Tile Terrain Game Design Game Designer 40

Grid Sage Games

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

Despite its relatively small item pool and low emphasis on random variants, Brogue has an even greater emphasis on terrain factors that really help support the dynamic gameplay in a way that keeps repeated runs interesting. Brogue’s trippy colors come from impactful terrain features like water, lava, and gases.

Data 52

Data Terrain Balance Mechanics 52

Grid Sage Games

JULY 17, 2022

Rampant terrain destruction is awesome, by the way ;). and not be compatible with many of the encounters anyway, since knowing which direction the player will enter from is often an important part of their design. I wrote about this factor in my recent article on game design philosophy.

Beta 52

Beta Content Balance Mechanics 52

Grid Sage Games

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

In a game setting, though, this can be quite an annoyance from a design perspective (harder to balance!) and is likely to either become a player crutch or lead to tedious optimal play (a topic I covered in my game design philosophy article ). Architecture. But we can sorta do something about that if we want to!

Point and Click 52

Point and Click Mechanics Feature Open World 52