Category Archives: Game Industry

There’s a popular joke about money and game development. It goes something like this: To make a small fortune from gamedev, start from a big one. A key element of gamedev finances is risk. Games are entertainment products, and even when someone has a great time testing your game at a conference or all theContinue reading “Making Money Making Games”

Around the age of 11-12, a game entered my frame of reference that quickly became synonymous to unplayable levels of complexity. That game was Advanced Squad Leader (ASL). The thick rules binder and giant Beyond Valor box that serves as the game’s starting point had just entered the collection of a good friend. We playedContinue reading “Eras of Game Design”

“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”

Game development curriculums around the world—especially ones that teach game design—tend to focus on what’s fun for the students rather than on what they need to know to do the job. Rapid in-engine prototyping, short projects, high level game design theory, boardgame development, etc. But focusing on the fun stuff sometimes means you forget what’sContinue reading “Devs Just Want to Have Fun”