game design

The Barkley Marathon and Incomprehensible Game Design

The Barkley Marathon and Incomprehensible Game Design

The challenge of understanding something enough to beat it is part of the joy of unraveling incomprehensible game design.

How Video Games Engage the Imagination Muscle

Game Development as a Reductive Practice: The Beautiful Simplicity of ‘Her Story’

Game Development as a Reductive Practice: The Beautiful Simplicity of ‘Her Story’

In an era of feature creep and feature glut, what Her Story shows us is that by reducing a game to a singular activity that one can still create a surprisingly satisfying experience.

One Day That Wall Is Gonna Fall: Game Design for Everyone

Narrative Is a Game Mechanic

Gaming Whiplash and the Tragedy of Expectations

The Seriously Absurd Case of ‘Vanquish’

Quiet Practicality: Non-verbal Communication’s Mechanical Strengths in Online Gaming

‘Lugaru HD’: Going in Blind

Puzzling Messages in ‘Picross 3D’

Grasping ‘Inside a Star-filled Sky’

Nested Design in ‘Stacking’