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Posts tagged player
How Video Game Designers Peek Inside Their Players’ Lives

There'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.

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Feeling Clever: Thematic Design in Sid Sackson’s Games Studies

Sackson participated in multiple gaming groups throughout his life, but Bernice and Sackson also seemed to delight in inviting fellow gamers over to the house for a more intimate evening of dinner and games. 14 The collection was thus auctioned off in parts soon after the resolution of Sackson's estate, with many of the games stamped with the mark "From the Personal Collection of Sid Sackson - signature".

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People as Pieces – Social Mechanics in Games

I started to write this article, which is intended to look at 'Social' mechanics and structures in games, and naturally I turned straight to 'Building Blocks', which was when I noticed there was no 'Social' section, gathering together those mechanics which use players themselves as 'pieces' in the game, manipulate player dynamics and relationships, and otherwise 'play with' people.

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A Look at Analysis Paralysis in Board Games

My hope is that, by the end of this post, you'll understand what analysis paralysis is and be able to make sure that it doesn't cause issues between the people that you play games with. Analysis paralysis is not unique to tabletop gaming. Many strategic board games from the last few decades involve tough decisions, someof which might have an instant impact on the game, others of which will continue to influence your performance for turns to come.

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Game Mechanics: How to make your players feel smart

Last week we discussed some game mechanics meant to get people laughing and having a great time while playing a party game. This week we'll look at many examples of how to use the right game mechanics to make your players feel smart. Let's look at some examples of games that allow you the opportunity to feel smart and how you can apply similar ideas into your own games using the right game mechanics.

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