🕹️ I just found out that Rock Paper Shotgun wrote a review of one of my games (Marshmallow Nights).
This is the first review I’ve ever gotten from a website!
- Me: (hugs wife) I love you
- Wife: Your shirt smells like spit up
🕹️ I impusively signed up for a game jam
It was probably not the best idea. I have a newborn, and I’m helping the studio I work at launch its first game in the next couple of months… so time isn’t something I have a lot of.
Anyways: I decided to make a card game for the Godot Wild Jam. The theme is “Train”
- I established the data structure for shuffling and dealing out the deck of cards
- Picked the color palette for the game
- Got a basic visual representation of cards to show up on the screen
The Concept: You’re a personal trainer for trains.
- Your goal is to help them get fit by helping them shed their extra cargo
- You’ll play cards and powerups to help them lose the right amount of cargo
Next up: I gotta work on the functionality for allowing the player to play cards.
🕹️ Clarify your game design with "If-Then" thinking
Why it matters: Gameplay becomes stronger when you talk about it the same way players talk about it.
- “If you drink the potion, then you heal” (Every game ever)
- “If you rest at a bonfire, then it unlocks a checkpoint” (Dark Souls)
- “If you throw your axe, then you can press triangle to recall it” (God of War)
Pro tip: “If You” is one of the best ways to start a gameplay concept:
- “If” implies choices and possibility
- “You” puts the player at the center of the design
This method serves as a way to check how intuitive the concept is. If it’s confusing as a sentence, it will be confusing as gameplay.
Yes, but: Add a “but” at the end of the statement to introduce a twist to the concept. The Dark Souls example becomes, “If you rest at a bonfire, then it unlocks a checkpoint… But, it also respawns all the enemies in the area.”
Bottom line: Good game design starts with clear and easy-to-understand concepts.
I started working on a roguelike for the Playdate 🕹️
- I’ve always loved fantasy consoles and the constraints that come along with designing games for them
I like that there are no rate limits on the indie web 😊
🕹️ Game Design Tip: “If the player doesn’t see it, it may not exist.”
Why it matters: If you have something in your game that the player can’t perceive, those areas may not benefit your design.
Learn more: Ep. #236 of the Game Design Round Table with designer Tanya X. Short of Kitfox Games
✨ My first Father’s Day gift.
“Air Jordan 1 Retro OG Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse”
I wrote about this the other day, but Zach Gage put it more succinctly.
