Interesting Choices

AUGUST 20, 2011

After three ink cartridges, twenty five sheets of perforated business card paper, and a whole lot of work in Illustrator, the business cards are finally done. There are currently 50 unique cards, and I'll be bringing five copies of each to PAX (with the exception of a group of ten that lost one each of their comrades in the process, so those will be a bit rarer than the rest).

Sprite 52

Sprite Pixel Mechanics Localization 52

Interesting Choices

AUGUST 17, 2011

Cooperative multiplayer is an oft-underused method of allowing people to play games together in a more accessible and casual manner. People are starting to warm up to it, though, and recent years have seen a surge of cooperative board games, as well as digital games like Starcraft 2 and League of Legends that are embracing co-op vs AI as a valid way to experience the game.

Communications 52

Communications Co-op Mechanics Playtesting 52

Interesting Choices

AUGUST 14, 2011

Last Thanksgiving, I was drafting with a guy named Zak Walter who had invented a deck of what he called "draft conditions". They had evocative names like The Astrologist or The Pacifist and each one had a limitation on your drafting or your deckbuilding. Now, I'll never get tired of just straight up drafting Magic cards, but it was an interesting twist to the process as battles become more about the archetypes (who wins: the Pacifist or the Pugilist?

Balance 52

Balance Art Writing Data 52

Interesting Choices

AUGUST 26, 2011

In Seattle right now, happy to be done with the talks so that I can relax a bit at PAX before heading off to Burning Man. The talks went well; as with anything they could have been better, but I learned a lot about presenting and I'm excited to apply it next time. Tonight I'll be on the Hollywood Squares - Game Design Edition panel, 6 PM in the Kraken Theatre.

Editing 40

Editing Game Design Game Designer Games 40

Interesting Choices

AUGUST 5, 2011

This is the fifth part of a series about working on Magic: the Gathering during my five years at Wizards of the Coast: Part One (Joining WotC, playing in the FFL, developing Champions of Kamigawa). Part Two (Developing Betrayers of Kamigawa and the Jitte mistake). Part Three (Developing Ravnica, unleashing Friggorid, and designing MTGO Vanguard). Part Four (Designing Ripple, the FFL during Time Spiral, designing Planar Chaos).

Racing 40

Racing Mechanics Games Development 40