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Two Core Concepts of Deckbuilding Games 12 Mar 2013 | 11:25 am
I've made a deckbuilding game, Shadowrun: Crossfire, which will become available for purchase sometime in 2013 (sorry, no official date yet). In doing so, I was reading up on deckbuilding games in gen...
Lifelink in League of Legends 23 Dec 2012 | 06:50 am
A coworker of mine, one Jonathan Loucks, and I were discussing the function of lifesteal / lifelink in the MOBA game League of Legends. JL: I often think LoL would be better with less lifelink. Like,...
Next Iron Chef: gaming the system 6 Dec 2011 | 09:57 am
For reference: Next Iron Chef is a cooking competition reality show. This season the format for an episode goes like this: all remaining competitors battle in a cooking challenge. Their dishes are jud...
A love letter to SpaceChem 14 Jul 2011 | 12:22 pm
SpaceChem, how do I love thee, let me count the ways: You have just the right amount of chemistry. Enough that I recognize the compounds you give me, and can see that all the bonding is correct, but ...
Empires & Allies brings out the worst in your friends. 2 Jul 2011 | 08:53 am
My friends are greedy, selfish bastards, it turns out. I learned this from Zynga's newest golden turd of a game: Empires & Allies. How did I find out? Metal. Most of the resources in this game you ge...
Oregon Trail: Good Idea, Poor Execution 14 Feb 2011 | 06:34 pm
One of the most common things I see in game design, is a very good idea executed poorly. I'm sure you've read the description of a game, or seen the box, or even just heard the title and been very exc...
Social Game Design: Monetization part 3: Don't Sell Everything 26 Jan 2011 | 03:52 pm
In a free to play game with microtransactions and virtual goods, why shouldn't you sell everything? If players are willing to buy it, shouldn't you put a price on it and sell it to them? I have seen t...
Social Game Design: Virality part 2 - Gifts (part 1?) 3 Jan 2011 | 09:10 pm
Happy New Year! When I was very young, I received many gifts on certain holidays. Being a child, I didn't have much control over these gifts, and because my family wasn't wealthy, I didn't ask for mu...
GDS2 Cycles Design Test Commentary - part 6 of 6 16 Dec 2010 | 04:16 pm
The last post in this 6-part postapalooza about the GDS2 cycle design test. Be sure to read all 5 preceding parts! Jonathan's cards: Common Cycle CW01: Farmer's Charm W Instant Choose one - Put a 1...
GDS2 Cycles Design Test Commentary - part 5 of 6 16 Dec 2010 | 02:21 pm
Moving on to the next submission of cards for the GDS2 "cycle" design challenge. Scott's cards: Common Cycle CW01 Weary of Death 1W Sorcery Target player gains 4 life. Requiem - If a creature was p...
