Brenda Brathwaite, game designer and chair of the Interactive Design and Game Development department at SCAD has invited me to join the pool of contributors to her blog, Applied Game Design. It is am honor and a privelege to oblige her However, it means my future posts will be somewhat divided between this blog [...]
I was intrigued by a post on WaterCoolerGames, discussing a Tetris clone made where the blocks are textured to appear like ethnic cleansing internment camp prisoners and the play-space resembles a mass grave. Apparently, a team of Brazilian game designers took a claim from Raph Koster about how context can dramatically alter games and decided [...]
This article from Raph’s website the other day about this article from the Boston globe raises a couple intriguing questions:
If the prefrontal cortex can be so easily bent under the strain of overstimuli from urban existence, then do we indeed, as Raph suggests, have something to consider when building crowded virtual worlds? Most virtual worlds [...]
I’m launching a public beta test of my thesis game, Wasteworld. In the interest of ensuring a whole experience, I will not describe the game beyond saying that it’s a 4X game for Facebook where you try to build a corporate empire. The rest I’ll leave to the game itselfto explain, since that’s how it [...]
My thesis game has been live in closed beta for almost two weeks now, and I’m making a final push this week to clear up the last of the bugs and launch the public beta over the weekend. watch this space for information.
As the first trial run of the game draws to a close, I [...]
I have heard it said that making 80% of a game is easy. It’s that last 20% that’ll kill you. I’ve been crunching all since Thursday on my thesis game, trying to get it live and still have enough time to analyze play and gather data for the paper before the quarter ends. After the [...]
Introduction: Wriggle, shuffle, and slide along! In this unusual race-to-the-end game, players must manipulate their candies both individually and as part of a collective to propel them to the end bowl first.
Players: 4+
Materials:
Regular-sized bags of identically-shaped, multicolored candies (such as M&Ms or Skittles), at least two bags per player.
Cups or bowls to hold the [...]
Introduction: Wouldn’t you know it.. the fridge is full again! Sorting all the stuff out, tossing the rotting leftovers, freezing the surplus, and finding room for your new groceries can be quite the challenging puzzle. In this game, players try to figure out how to cram all their stores into one common fridge. With some [...]
Introduction: Threats to the body are many and diverse, and a strong immune system must be prepared to fight off any kind of infection at any time. Build your body’s defenses and be shrewd about how you employ that strength, and you will live a long, healthy, victorious life!
Players: 3-5
Materials:
Regular-sized bags of identically-shaped, multicolored [...]
Introduction: Designed in honor of the brilliance and success of the newly-released independent game Braid, a game about snap time reversal and the value — and danger — of being able to “undo” everything you just did. In this game, players compete to rid their hand of cards before the time runs out. However, unlucky [...]