Simulated Immersion, Part 3: Product

Part 1 was about the legacy of immersive sim games and how they pushed systemic game design to the max. Part 2 dealt with the game design takeaways from that legacy, and things you can consider if you want to walk in its footsteps. (Please note that there’s a silent in my opinion added onContinue reading “Simulated Immersion, Part 3: Product”

Simulated Immersion, Part 2: Game Design

This second part in a three-part series goes through the takeaways from the legacy of immersive sim game design that was covered in Part 1. As it’s a somewhat debated topic, there are countless opinions out there that you may read at your leisure. This one is mine. Maxim Samolyenko has an excellent writeup inContinue reading “Simulated Immersion, Part 2: Game Design”

Simulated Immersion, Part 1: Legacy

I have an obsession, and it’s playing immersive games. Games that put me in an interesting pair of shoes. Games that allow me to interact with systems that behave in predictable and thought-provoking ways. Games that let me experience a world or act out an interesting role. I like feeling as if it was IContinue reading “Simulated Immersion, Part 1: Legacy”

It’s (Not) an Iterative Process

“Game design, like most forms of design, is an iterative process. That means that the game is quickly prototyped, played, and refined again and again before it is finalized.” Brathwaite and Schreiber; “Challenges for Game Designers” Iteration is a word game developers use to describe the magic that makes games happen. But what we actuallyContinue reading “It’s (Not) an Iterative Process”

Stages of a Game’s Design

Projects I’ve worked on, large and small, have often demonstrated similar issues with game design in their later stages. Beyond having me in common – which is hard to do anything about when you’re me – one issue has been that the role of game designer changes throughout the project but not all game designersContinue reading “Stages of a Game’s Design”

Subjectivity in Game Design

Is Candy Crush good? Is Dark Souls hard? Is ARMA 3 complicated? Is Battlefield V fast-paced? Is Hearts of Iron IV accessible? Unlike the academic theories of gravity or evolution, game design is entertainment. This means there’s no such thing as an objective truth. For every player who thinks Dark Souls is hard or HeartsContinue reading “Subjectivity in Game Design”