the game design of taskmaster: fun to watch vs. fun to play
Let’s start with this statement: Taskmaster is not a game. It is a comedy panel television show, with a format that lends itself to incorporating game elements in the form of tasks. This means that the audience for Taskmaster is…
arcane season 1 easter eggs from league of legends
Nobody could have predicted that an animated Netflix series based on League of Legends characters would have worked. But in 2021, Arcane, the nine-part action adventure series, defied expectations and became a runaway success. As of writing, the series holds…
league of legends challenges: a flawed achievement system
In May 2022, Riot Games released a new achievement system for League of Legends. “Challenges” launched with over 300 goals. Each of these challenges has multiple tiers that level up from Iron to Master. Frankly, League of Legends has needed an…
all league of legends challenges and titles, and how to earn them
League of Legends released its achievement system, Challenges, earlier this month. However, the challenges aren’t very well-organised and the system is rather complex. Titles that can be displayed under your name were also released, but it’s difficult to find out what…
arcane’s silco is not league of legends champion material
The success of the League of Legends animated series Arcane has a lot to do with its characters. Namely, villain-turned-father-figure Silco became a standout favourite of the series. For Riot, one might imagine that this television property would serve as a goldmine for…
what went wrong with hearthstone’s new reward system
In November 2020, Blizzard revamped Hearthstone‘s reward system in a major way for the first time since the popular card game’s release in 20141. But after the new reward system’s release on 11th November, there was an outcry amongst unhappy…
an analysis of gender and roles of league of legends champions
There is a persistent stereotype in multiplayer games that females tend to play support characters. For example, it’s common to hear that women exclusively main the healer Mercy in Overwatch, which was addressed in a popular 2017 Reddit post by…
teamfight tactics feels like a solved puzzle, so why am i still playing it?
When Teamfight Tactics came out a year ago, it was the latest in a 2019 fad of “auto battlers” or “auto chess” games. This craze started with a Dota mod called Dota Auto Chess that came out in January, which…
on slay the spire, progression, and making games more loser-friendly
When we think of what makes games fun, we often think about winning. Conquering a tough level, solving a difficult puzzle, getting to 100% completion or defeating a fearsome boss forms much of our narrative when we talk about why…
