Gabriel Cornish logo Gabriel Cornish

Receiving feedback made easy:

  1. Assume positive intent.
  2. Appreciate all feedback. Say thank you even if you don’t agree.
  3. Accept or discard, but always consider it deeply.

This simple process elevates your creations and builds collaborative relationships.

Here is the key to compelling games!

It’s not just about mastering design techniques. Observe the behavior and emotions you enjoy in your favorite experiences.

How can you get the player to feel those too?

Thoughts are temporary. They come and go. We just need to let them pass through.

🕹ī¸ 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

🕹ī¸ 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.

🕹ī¸ 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 🕹ī¸

  • 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 😊