Post Icon October 19, 2023

After the Player has made a ‘love connection’ with your game and they are 'infatuated' with it, how do you make sure that they keep calling you back? Are they spending their money on you, or someone else?

Post Icon December 07, 2018

Game Modifiers

by Matt Jackson

Game modifiers are the easiest way to transform your title for as many players as possible. They can create fun where there was frustration. They can entice players to log additional hours for very little development time, and can also create a simple, zany kind of fun ...

Post Icon July 19, 2016

How do sound and gameplay come together for immersion and playability? What does a game designer expect from a sound designer? My good (and handsome) buddy Cam Britton is here to help me take on these topics ...

Post Icon June 16, 2016

Game balance is often used to describe the challenge that one faces in a competitive game relative to other players. Differing strategies, abilities, characters are said to be ‘in balance’ when each is ...

Post Icon May 11, 2016

Housemarque’s (Resogun, Dead Nation) latest effort ‘Alienation’ pits you and 3 others (friends hopefully) against relentless waves of of invading aliens in a faced-paced top-down shooter...

Post Icon April 19, 2016

Successfully pitching your ideas is one of the most vital skills you can have as a game designer. Whether they be big, complex entire game presentations, or simple, single code line changes to a tertiary mechanic, knowing how to communicate with people...

Post Icon April 13, 2016

If you are a game design/programming/3D art/animation student and want to grasp as much as possible about the industry you’ve put your blood, sweat and tears trying to break into; play everything. If you are a seasoned game development...

Post Icon April 07, 2016

This week ‘Mc Ote’ (catchy I think) and I begin by discussing his recent foray into the culinary arts, specifically bread. It’s not all smashing dough though. We talk about the fact that no matter who you are and how you market, you’re selling your game one copy at a time...

Post Icon April 05, 2016

We’ve all been there. You lose yourself completely in an activity. Time stands still. You’re laser focused. You have ‘tunnel vision’ and can see your objective as clear as day. You lose track of time completely and forget to eat, or even sleep...

Post Icon March 31, 2016

On today’s episode ‘Regular Kevin’ and I start by discussing the history of difficulty in games: how Nintendo’s (and the video game industry’s) technical and content difficulties in the 1980’s contributed to short, brutal games made by incredibly small teams...

Post Icon March 29, 2016

As games grow and strive for engagement on additional, ‘meta’ levels, crafting has also grown in prominence. It’s easy to see why. Varied crafting recipes with different requirements can create aspirational rewards for players...

Post Icon March 21, 2016

Reward systems are a hot topic in video games today. We all play games for different reasons; some for exploration, others for a sense of control, others to experience a strong narrative...

Post Icon March 07, 2016

I still feel bad about not playing it when it was released about a year ago. I didn’t own a PS4 at the time (send me your hate mail. Preferably snail mail. I miss getting it...*sniff*). It has recently been released as a free title for February if you are a Playstation Plus...

Post Icon March 07, 2016

In this episode I speak with Kevin Neibert, game designer on ‘Livelock’, at Tuque Games. We discuss his background (he has a PhD!), and how he got into the business, his recent forays into PAX South and the ridiculousness that is Youtube comments...

Post Icon March 07, 2016

Podcast 000: Origin Story

with Matt Jackson

Who the hell am I? Why am I starting this podcast? In this inaugural episode I discuss my background, experience, my attitudes towards games and what this podcast will be all about.