Category Archives: General

I just signed a book publishing deal with O’Reilly Media. Look for my game design book out sometime in 2013.

I wrote an article-length and somewhat contrary response to an article on Gamasutra by Tess Jones. Check out the article and my response here.

Imagine a game of Left 4 Dead in which a player sacrifices his life so his friend may survive a zombie attack. How do we classify this moment?  Is it a story, a piece of mechanics-driven gameplay, or something authored … Continue reading →

I wrote a really long response to Danc’s post Loops and Arcs. It was so long his blog rejected it. So I’m posting it here. Please read his excellent article first if you want this to make any sense. My Response … Continue reading →

People talk about the depth of games a lot, but it’s tricky to figure out exactly what that means. I’ve been thinking about a new way to measure the depth of games. It’s the Skill Ceiling. The skill ceiling is … Continue reading →

My hobby now is, apparently, editing Star Trek episodes for humorous effect.

So I decided to practice my video editing a bit. The horrifying result:

The word “game” is starting to get outdated. It doesn’t fit us any more, to the point where it is holding us back. When people started calling them games, that’s what they were. Simple sets of action-reaction rules and mechanics. … Continue reading →

The best thing about the old tabletop role-playing games is the Dungeon Master concept. The Dungeon Master is a person who creates and presents challenges to the other players. Since the DM can essentially do anything that a fictional world … Continue reading →

Technology doesn’t just mean physical devices. The word also refers to techniques. In game design, we develop technology that has nothing to do with CPUs or game engines. We develop design technologies. This is my list of the most important … Continue reading →