the joy of watching untitled goose game: review
I’ve been going through a slump lately. So, when looking for a game to play (and later on which to do a game design review): something light, not too serious, without too much commitment, my gaze settled on the 2019…
antichamber review: flipping the script on learning in video games
Over the past few days, I’ve spent many hours wandering the corridors and exploring the rooms of Antichamber, the 2013 puzzle platformer game by Alexander Bruce. It’s a mind-bending experience packed with tons of intriguing puzzles, and aside from some…
how baba is you puts the spirit of play into puzzle games
I find puzzles a lot of fun, and I enjoy games very much. However, putting those two together is more complicated than it sounds. You see, while “puzzle games” is a common category in any gaming catalog, it is not…
dissecting and designing dark escape rooms
There’s a specific group of friends I enjoy going to escape rooms with. I’ve got my puzzle enthusiasts, those who love Sudokus or a challenging level of Baba Is You. There are one or two who fancy themselves detectives and…
puzzle game design: are you creating impossible puzzles?
I have always liked puzzles. There are few things that give me more satisfaction than putting my mind to a problem and solving it. A good description connects this to our relationship with pain. People solve puzzles because they like…
designing lightning quick game loops for replayability in video games
There’s a quote in showbiz, sometimes ascribed to P.T. Barnum, sometimes to Walt Disney: “Always leave them wanting more.” Whoever said this was probably not thinking about games, but about entertainment experiences as a whole. The Barnum and Bailey Circus…
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…
