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Games Speak through Mechanics, Not Rules

Brand Game Development

Core Engine: If you strip out all the mechanics that put obstacles in your players’ path, what’s left? The core engine is the bare minimum set of mechanics you need to have a functioning game. Mechanics: Games are not very good until you have constraints that make it hard for players to achieve the objective.

Mechanics 130
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Solo dev Josh Salley (HALbot Studios) “I believe in keeping a good work life balance”

PreMortem.Games

He now works under the name of HALbot Studios on not one, but two first person survival horror games, House of Lies and The Nightmare Escape. Thinking about those ideas and how I could come up with my own spin or tell my own story with similar mechanics. “I just assumed game development involved writing code all day.”

Balance 195
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5 Levels of Communication through Game Development

Brand Game Development

The following excerpt is from Games Speak through Mechanics, Not Rules (Dev Diary: 04/28/17). If you strip out all the mechanics that put obstacles in your players’ path, what’s left? The core engine is the bare minimum set of mechanics you need to have a functioning game. That’s a mechanic. Chess tells a story.

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The Basic Fundamentals of Game Design

Logic Simplified

We will cover everything from crafting intuitive and engaging game mechanics to creating immersive storylines and themes to prioritizing user interface and experience. Whether you're interested in designing platformers, first-person shooters , or role-playing games, these game design fundamentals are applicable to any genre.

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In Vampire Hunters you need all of your six hands and a dozen guns to survive

PreMortem.Games

Imagine having to face rampant attack waves like in Vampire Survivors but from a first person point of view. The key idea was to use the gameplay mechanics from Vampire Survivors in a different genre. “We Gamecraft is placing a heavy emphasis on the weapon stacking mechanic, which sets it apart from other shooters.

Concepts 104
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How To Know When to Pivot on Your Board Game Design

Brand Game Development

Game design involves creating a system of rules and mechanics that are interpreted by players according to their expectations. Rules and mechanics alone often interact in complex, unpredictable ways. On top of that, people don’t always completely understand the rules of the game or the possibilities that mechanics provide.

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Design review: Botany Manor as a quiet dark detective game

Radiator Blog

Botany Manor is a 3 hour first person puzzle game about growing plants while exploring a big beautiful fancy house that smells like British Bake-Off. Is it heat, wind, light, acidity, soil sugar content, or any of the previous puzzle mechanics we spent the last 2 hours tutorializing? What affects this plant's color?

Puzzle 173