Ask a Game Dev

MARCH 2, 2023

Remember, the goal when writing a design document is to help provide a road map for the feature or system you’re working on. When I write a design document, I usually try to address the following: High level goal - What is this feature/system/puzzle/etc. supposed to do? supposed to do?

Feature 40

Feature Puzzle Writing Engine 40

The Bottom Feeder

JUNE 12, 2024

It was a bold choice to ship this game with only one romance option. I wanted to write a third and final article about Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3 for short), a really great game that most people have moved on from, but I want to talk about the most important part of any RPG: LOOT. Making money writing helps the self-esteem.

Fighting 89

Fighting Puzzle Writing Terrain 89

PreMortem.Games

JANUARY 19, 2024

And so, we quickly realised the potential to form a bit of a ‘Super Group’ by bringing Game Design and AI Tech together. And so, the duo started exploring different ways to turn talking into a puzzle. For this to be a First Person Talker -and not just a conversational sim- the conversation itself had to be gamified in some way.

AI 129

AI First person Puzzle Scripting 129

Game Designing

AUGUST 31, 2023

Nothing happens in the game without the programmer first being the one to code it in. They’re going to write the code for the player to jump, move, attack, interact, use the menu and everything else that the game consists of. 01:08) It’s kind of like a logic puzzle through code, which is how I look at it.

Debug 52

Debug Code Puzzle Writing 52

Sirlin

APRIL 26, 2019

My predictions below relied on the premise that good writing would basically force some events to happen, and I was thrown by a loop by the, well, not good writing. I leave this prediction post up for reference anyway —- I’m going to give my predictions for how Game of Thrones ends up. You can throw all that out. Bran’s power.

Game Design 40

Game Design Game Designer Games Writing 40

The Bottom Feeder

MAY 15, 2024

It was famously designed by Gygax to mess with the players in his own campaign and provide meat for players who came to him and said they could beat anything he threw at him. The main problem, alas, is that, while it IS a fascinating landmark for game design, it is not a good adventure. The older one is my copy.)

Horror 72

Horror Fighting Game Design Game Designer 72

PreMortem.Games

AUGUST 9, 2023

These were small versions of the AAA games I had played a lot of, but they were just as enjoyable.” Solve puzzles and wander your way across the iris, and through the life, of Impressionist painter Claude Monet. Making games is different to making anything else. Pat Naoum: “Game development takes so long!”

Dev 104

Dev Art Concepts Film 104

PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

These were small versions of the AAA games I had played a lot of, but they were just as enjoyable.” Solve puzzles and wander your way across the iris, and through the life, of Impressionist painter Claude Monet. Making games is different to making anything else. Pat Naoum: “Game development takes so long!”

Dev 104

Dev Art Concepts Film 104

The Bottom Feeder

OCTOBER 13, 2021

We write super-retro, super-low-budget games that don't look great. The answer is: Writing. Our game design is quite solid, but the stories we tell is what keeps us in business. Our games are highly interactive novels with settings, characters, and stories that get people to actually give us real money.

Writing 56

Writing Games AAA Indy 56

CG Spectrum

JUNE 10, 2024

3D Modelling 3D Animation FX Concept Art 2D Animation Game Design Game Programming 3D Modelling: Shaping Virtual Worlds “3D modelling is a rewarding career where you get to bring concepts and 2D imagery to life, sculpting personality and story into characters, objects, and environments. What does a game designer do?

Film 52

Film Animation Animation Concepts 52

The Bottom Feeder

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

Most people don't actually care about deep dives into game design. But I DO Write Games For a Living I try out lots and lots of video games. The goal is to get enough weird variety that players poke at the copy-pasted forts just to see what the heck the designers came up with. The reason is obvious.

Cutscenes 82

Cutscenes Terrain Games Puzzle 82

Game Analytics

DECEMBER 5, 2022

One of the reasons why hyper-casual games are so popular is due to how quick and easy they are to make. Simple controls, artwork, and game design make it easy for any developer to pick up. There are other ways to build a game on a budget. Horror in the Darkness is a text-based horror puzzle-esque game.

Horror 109

Horror Games Mobile Mobile 109

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 20, 2020

So without further ado… First, a quick overview of the RPG genre Role Playing Games (RPGs) have generated nearly $3Bn in in-app purchase revenues year-to-date in the Western markets. This makes RPGs the third largest genre on mobile after Strategy ($5.4Bn) and Puzzle ($4.5Bn) games. Installs are supporting the story.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Fighting Studios Art 52

Grumpy Gamer

JANUARY 18, 2018

How you divide your time between making games and living "real life" ? When I write, music is helpful. Dividing my life between making games and real life is a struggle. I also had the idea of making adventure games for kids. I floated it by Lucasfilm Games and they weren't interested. I work on a Mac exclusively.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Point and Click Playtesting Art 52

iXie gaming

APRIL 3, 2023

By the end of this article, you’ll have a solid understanding of how to produce high-quality art for mobile games that captivates players and sets your game apart in a competitive market. This entails comprehending the game’s genre, intended audience, plot, and general theme. So, let’s dive in!

Mobile Gaming 52

Mobile Gaming Art Mobile Mobile 52

The Bottom Feeder

APRIL 27, 2022

It's also hard to criticize, since From Software games tend to be mean and confusing and sadistic on purpose, so anything that makes you mad was probably put there intentionally. But since I can't resist writing about the thing, I want to start with the key question: Why do people love these games so much, despite the sadism.

Fighting 52

Fighting Software Writing Game Design 52

Game Designing

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

How To Design Your Game Atmosphere Atmosphere in game design is the sum of many parts. Another big part of the atmosphere in games is the weather and particle effects. Is there a fog obscuring hidden threats, or is the level in clear view for easy puzzle-solving?

Games 136

Games Mechanics Fantasy Art 136

Game Design Advice

APRIL 26, 2015

I’m a game designer. And I teach game design. I do believe game design is something you can study and learn and work to master. But lately I find myself questioning design as a way of understanding where games come from and what makes them work. We know jumping puzzles suck.

Game Design 40

Game Design Game Designer Puzzle Collision 40

Game Daily

JUNE 8, 2023

Jordan Weisman: Sure, Our goal with Adventure Forge is to empower people to make games that tell the stories they’ve always wanted to tell. GameDaily: Can you explain Adventure Forge in your own words?

Prop 52

Prop AI Platformer Racing 52

Mircosoft Game Dev

AUGUST 9, 2016

When users write code in GDScript within the IDE, everything simply "just works" and you have the added value of live code completion. To make it clearer, it is not our belief that forcing programmers to write code with visual blocks will result in a more efficient workflow. Allow programmers to set up their scenes, AI, etc.

Visual Scripting 52

Visual Scripting Scripting Code Puzzle 52

Brand Game Development

DECEMBER 18, 2017

Board game development is a very individual process. Every single developer has different methods for creating their games. This article is the seventh of a 19-part suite on board game design and development. Need help on your board game? Same thing with game weight and learning curve. Dylan: Ouch.

Mechanics 130

Mechanics Art Games Puzzle 130

The Bottom Feeder

FEBRUARY 22, 2023

I'm a nobody on the outside, looking at a giant development monolith and trying to figure out how this game could possibly have ended up where it did. I don't want to write a review. Doggo leads to an enormous, entirely optional area with tons of creative fights, fun puzzles, and neat stuff to do. I spent hours there.

Fighting 92

Fighting Games Balance Writing 92

AWS Games

DECEMBER 1, 2022

The responses represent a diverse set of developers – they work for small studios with less than 20 people (58%), medium studios of up to 150 people (26%), and large studios of over 150 people (16%) that develop games across 22 genres including action (33%), role playing (30%), and puzzle (22%).

Game Developer 52

Game Developer Game Development Development Data 52

Deconstructor of Fun

MARCH 14, 2023

Kudos to Neil Long of Mobilegamer.biz for joining the event and writing the notes. Running through the market by genre, Kress noted that King has done quite well, but other genres had suffered badly, with strategy, RPG, match puzzle, and casino games all down double digits. Shooters got creamed”, too, he said – down 33%.

Games 59

Games Cross platform Mobile Mobile 59

Deconstructor of Fun

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Industry peers asked me: “What games will you make?” “Do Will you make another puzzle game?”. Some of the puzzle games I’ve worked on. Puzzles are one of the biggest market categories and it continues to grow each year. But now I have a team of specialists making puzzles. These are valid questions.

Studios 52

Studios Build Puzzle Concepts 52

Mircosoft Game Dev

AUGUST 10, 2017

The motivation for this article is that many devs asked me to write it for a long time. Despite being the lead developer of Godot, I have almost 20 years of experience developing and shipping games, and a decade of experience as technical consultant. Do not bother with design. Elaborated below: 1) Who will play the game?

Prototyping 52

Prototyping Alpha Games Point and Click 52

The Bottom Feeder

AUGUST 30, 2023

If that had slightly fewer sales, the most popular Zelda game ever would be Super Smash Bros. Because, at their hearts, Zelda games are puzzle games with a bit of combat bolted on. Puzzle games are a niche genre. Yet, this is an amazing time for niche games to break out and become big hits.

Fighting 91

Fighting Puzzle Games Engine 91

The Bottom Feeder

JANUARY 30, 2024

I mean, Hidden Object Games barely even count as an activity. And yet, we know they are games, because they have “game” in the name. things about making and writing about games for 30 years is the patterns you get to see. My games, by the modern standard, look like absolute dogs. Match-3 RPG."

Indy 91

Indy Art Writing Co-op 91

Grumpy Gamer

MAY 12, 2004

Some people will tell you that Adventure Games aren't really dead, they have just morphed into other forms, or that other genres have absorbed Adventure Games. A great number of people in this business secretly (and not so secretly) wish they were making movies, not writing video games. Backwards Puzzles.

Puzzle 64

Puzzle Games Entertainment Graphics 64

Grid Sage Games

JULY 17, 2022

While some players enjoy puzzling out creative ways to get ahead, at the extreme end it eventually devolves into optimal tedium which is overall harmful to the experience. I wrote about this factor in my recent article on game design philosophy.

Beta 52

Beta Content Balance Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

DECEMBER 4, 2023

So, Spyke Games tapped into their puzzle experience from Peak and summoned one of the key elements of every successful puzzle game: Obstacles! Do you lack depth in your puzzle levels? Before Tile Busters emerged, Tile Match games primarily depended on tile positions for level design variability.

Tile 52

Tile Co-op Puzzle Feature 52

Deconstructor of Fun

APRIL 25, 2022

As the builder of the kingdom, players have the god like power to write the story for their cookies as a part of designing and changing the layout of the the space. System The system design of the game and the in-game stats balance demonstrate Devsisters’ high standards. Interactive Facilities for Some Cookies.

Baking 52

Baking Simulation Build Animation 52

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

Addressing the initial learning curve, introducing enticing mid-game offers, and refining unlocking progression are essential for the game’s long-term success. With Blizzard's expertise in creating compelling end-game content, Warcraft Rumble has the potential to become a major success and influence future game design trends. ?

Mobile 113

Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming Concepts 113

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Addressing the initial learning curve, introducing enticing mid-game offers, and refining unlocking progression are essential for the games long-term success. With Blizzard's expertise in creating compelling end-game content, Warcraft Rumble has the potential to become a major success and influence future game design trends.

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming Concepts 52

Designer Notes

DECEMBER 10, 2023

However, because these strategies often either break the theme or are very unpleasant to execute, we put a high priority on stamping them out in patches so that players don’t optimize the fun out of their games. If we don’t prompt them to write our term papers for us, they don’t do anything on their own.

AI 52

AI Racing Engine Engineering 52

Radiator Blog

JUNE 30, 2022

A broughlike is a variation on a roguelike named after designer Michael Brough , who has spoken before on his design patterns like square tiles, orthogonal movement, turn parity, glitching, limited info, simple maze designs, minimal resources. A dense randomized mini-chess puzzle where everything matters.

Code 52

Code Educational Education Prototyping 52