maker faire bay area: tips, tricks, review
A couple of weekends ago, I attended my first ever Maker Faire in the Bay Area. Although I had previously exhibited a VR game called An Ant’s Life at the Pittsburgh Maker Faire, this was the first time I was…
building a game about the berlin wall
When I visited Berlin, I was struck by how profoundly the city impacted me in the 2-3 days I was there. Wandering around on foot from the Brandenburg Gate to Checkpoint Charlie to the Reichstag Building, I was surrounded by…
toy story midway mania and carnival games: fun to play vs. fun to watch
Front of mind for most game designers is making games fun to play. But there’s another side to games, too. Especially with Twitch and online streaming, it’s more and more important that games are also fun to watch. But making…
assassin’s creed’s virtual notre-dame proves the value of video games
When the devastating fire ravaged the roof and toppled the spire of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris on the Monday of Holy Week (15th April 2019), I, like the rest of the world, was shocked and heartbroken. Having visited Paris…
goodbye, subpar mini golf, you were anything but
It was an exceptionally cold afternoon on August 13th 2017, when I stepped into Subpar Mini Golf in Alameda, CA. More than anything, it was an idea of something to do on a Sunday, with visitors in town. Our group…
an afternoon at the musée mécanique, san francisco’s retro arcade
Back in 2015, I wrote an article about arcades becoming archaic, based on thoughts on a visit to Dave and Buster’s. I thought it was time to revisit, or perhaps reimagine the topic, with thoughts on a recent visit to…
escape room design: story first, puzzles second
Because escape rooms have their roots in games, I think an all-too-common design problem is the focus on creating really great puzzles. While clever, interesting and unique puzzles do add to the player experience, they are not the most interesting…
a rhapsody for disneyquest
There is a nondescript blue block of a building in a corner of the newly-reimagined Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort. This unremarkable structure contains five floors of arcade games, virtual reality experiences and interactive exhibits. The place is…
virtual reality is a platform for art and museums
Before Saturday, the last time I visited a museum was eight months ago. It was the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York during a brief visit. Although I live in a city with state-of-the-art public museums, I never seem…
