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…
what root and other board games gain and lose in digital format
Modern board games suffer from the difficulty of onboarding new players. More often than not, players rely on one patient friend who has either played the game before or read all the rules prior to the gaming session. As the…
the power of wildermyth’s modular storytelling in game design
Every once in a while, a game comes along that changes the way we think about interactive storytelling. Undoubtedly, Wildermyth has this star quality. The tactical RPG uses procedural generation to author stories in a unique way, chaining up series…
justice for player two: balancing couch co-op in video games
The LEGO video games are some of my favourite couch co-op experiences. As a franchise, they have a strong awareness of what they are: pure, wholesome, family fun, and they don’t try to be anything else. In particular, I enjoy…
wingspan bonus cards reference list with applicable birds
Wingspan’s bonus cards showcase the thoughtful balance of the board game. In the original game, there are twenty-six bonus cards that award the player who has them bonus points for achieving different goals. As an exercise, I’ve created a list…
raft is a video game about raft-building, not survival
Raft is a raft-building game first, and a survival game second. The open world video game was developed by Redbeet Interactive, and published by Axolot Games. It was released on Steam as an early access title in May 2018, and…
wingspan game review: the best cards match strategy mechanics to real birds
If there’s one game that’s captured my imagination — and my time — recently, it’s Wingspan. I’ve played dozens of rounds of the bird-themed board game, against friends and against the AI on Steam. Wingspan is about collecting bird cards…
don’t starve together, with a little help from my friends
I was introduced to the ominous ink-drawing world of Klei Entertainment’s Don’t Starve by two bona fide experts, who invited me into a custom server of Don’t Starve Together one lazy winter afternoon. Between them, my friends had more than 2,000 hours of…
phasmophobia review: a ghost game about shared scares
Despite being in early access, the indie VR/PC psychological horror game Phasmophobia (Kinetic Games) has become the it-game of the 2020 Halloween season. The 4-player co-op psychological horror game has you tracking down and identifying ghosts like a modern-day Scooby-Doo…
