Starfield almost immediately nudges its players to the edges of the cosmos. In the opening hours of the role-playing video game, it's possible to land your spaceship on Earth's moon or zip 16 light-years from a remote outpost to Alpha Centauri. When you open your map and zoom out from a planet, you can behold its surrounding solar system; zoom out again, and you're scrolling past luminous stars and the mysterious worlds that orbit them.
Read MoreGame design provides a unique opportunity for kids to become active creators, using their imagination to design and build interactive experiences. Buckle up, as we have a lot to cover.... Why Introduce Game Design to Kids? Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of game design, let's take a moment to understand why it's such an important and valuable skill for kids to explore.
Read MoreIn a sea of other video games, standing apart is difficult, yet by breaking down the rules of the game and accessing how each one impacts the player, something magical can be created. There is a kind of magic trick that game designers pull off that I'd argue has some parallels with the magical acts of folks like Penn & Teller or David Copperfield.
Read MoreThings like analysis paralysis, how long a game should sit on the shelf before getting played, whether or not new games should be purchased if there are still games on the shelf of shame, fear of missing out, etc. Throughout these conversations, the topic of the runaway leader was brought up; i.e. is it problematic if a game has the possibility for a player to get way ahead of the other players to the point where they are incredibly difficult to catch or even impossible.
Read MoreDuring her keynote speech at last year's ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in New Orleans, Dr. Kishonna Grey shared a story about the game Pokémon Go. She'd just become a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and as someone who studies games and their intersections with factors like gender and race and with Black experience in particular, she was eager to learn about this game that had become such a cultural sensation.
Read MoreOne of the many balancing acts of game design is the act of creating cool, interesting, unique, abilities for the player to use, and then balancing said abilities within the scope and design of your game. Players found optimal ways of playing that rendered a lot of the difficulty of the game moot.
Read MoreThe team responsible for designing and crafting all game ideas have different skill sets and responsibilities. Designers imprint their artistic vision and creativity on all elements of game production.
Read MoreThere's less reliance on happenstance that the right person will meet your game at the right time; as a game developer, I have tools to reach out and meet each player where they are. The narrator expresses doubt that the game is so advanced, and it isn't clear how exactly the data is used, so it's hard to say if the game is adjusting itself based on heuristics, or if she's projecting her internal mental state and trauma onto the game mechanics.
Read MoreAs a game designer, finding ways to build connections between the person playing the game and the characters of the game is always a top priority. Many game designers often neglect user experience in favor of focusing on other aspects of game design such as user interface or animation.
Read MorePoor game design, especially among competitive games, is causing a severe wave of toxicity within the gaming community.
Read MoreIf there's one aspect of the game industry that is as mysterious as game design, it's game analysis. A review is meant to put an objective measure on the quality of a game for the consumer, whereas an analysis is meant to study a game and figure out whether or not the design worked as intended.
Read MoreThe game, The Legend of the Lost Emerald, won a top prize this month at the 54th Annual Public Media Awards. "We have a vision to see games used as a vehicle to connect the public with contemporary research through media and this project is a testament to how successful that strategy can be."
Read MoreFor 13 years, Scott Shaw led Wilmington University's Game Design and Development program - the first four-year degree program of its kind in Delaware.
Read MoreLess well understood is how to design experiences for these non-linear, omnichannel shoppers. Designing a shopping experience to accommodate this type of consumer behavior is more akin to game design than it is to traditional commerce design.
Read MoreAside from requesting that the game incorporate tasks that would help the player advance through the labyrinth he left the design and gameplay up to the team.
Read MoreBoard Game Design Virtual Summit 2023 February 21-27, 2023 Featuring: Bruno Cathala (Designer: 7 Wonders, Kingdomino, Five Tribes); Alan Moon (Designer: Ticket to Ride, Diamant); Leslie Scott (Designer: Jenga); Azhelle Wade (Toy-Coach, Toy Industry Executive); Flatout Games Collab (Designer: Cascadia, Point Salad, Calico); Justin De Witt (Designer: Castle Panic); Gabe Barrett (Board Game Design Lab); and Alex Radcliffe (Board Game Reviewer & Content Creator)
Read MoreThe point of a TTRPG is that it reacts to you, making it a unique avenue of play; video games and classic board games stick to a set of rules, possible choices, and known entities, with little wiggle room, says Dragon: "A video game is this object that exists, and your engagement with it can be one-sided, but with a tabletop game, ideally it's something that is actively responding to the things that you're doing."
Read MoreThese subtle reinforcements of gender roles and restrictions around who exactly is allowed to enjoy particular hobbies inspired Shabir to start Girls Make Games, a summer camp where girls and nonbinary children learn all the basics of game development from coding to concept art illustration.
Read MoreThere is a lot more to Yomi than simply trying to predict your opponent's next move. These players know which characters have an advantage in each matchup, they know which stages benefit them the most, and they know which items to use to exploit their opponents weaknesses and which moves will leave them helpless.
Read MoreWith the growing popularity of gamers came a positive ripple effect: people are turning their dreams of becoming game designers into career opportunities. People interested in the intricate aspects of game development are leaning towards online learning platforms to learn new skills.
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