trial and death in the video game limbo
In celebration of spooky season, I usually write about my favourite spooky games. In the past, I’ve written about the game design of fear in Dead by Daylight and the fun of playing Phasmophobia with friends. This year, I’ve decided…
80 days game review: reinventing travelling around the world
When I first started looking for games about travel, I was trying find a way to replicate a feeling that we’ve all been missing out on this past year. In a previous post, I wrote about some of the games…
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…
narrative design: storytelling methods in video games
Narrative design for video games has steadily become a profession and field of study within game design. In this post, I will give an overview of several narrative structures commonly used in video games. These frameworks aren’t mutually exclusive and…
scavenger hunt: a storytelling technique for video games
If you’ve studied narrative design for games, you’re probably familiar with many different frameworks for interactive storytelling. Narrative design has grown into its own field within game design, with books, courses and experts on the topic. In The Art of Game…
the best improvements to hearthstone’s rewards track
I’ll admit, I give Hearthstone a hard time on this blog. But that’s only because I have such a high standard for the awesome card game that captured my imagination way back in 2014. It’s been a mainstay on my gaming list…
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…
breath of the wild 2: why a playable zelda is not good enough
Ever since I played my first Legend of Zelda game – it was Link’s Awakening, if you were curious – I’ve wondered why I was playing as Link in a series named for Zelda. Eventually, I stopped asking questions, because that was…