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…
the great houdini escape room: game design review
My last post was dedicated to identifying some of the most common design blunders in crafting escape rooms. This post follows up with a design deep dive into a well-executed escape room, The Great Houdini Escape Room by Palace Games…
common mistakes to avoid when designing escape rooms
Escape rooms are physical puzzle game environments where you get locked in a room with a group of friends and have a time limit within which you try to escape, by using clues and solving puzzles. These rooms are based…
inventing new player types outside the bartle taxonomy’s four
In 1996, co-creator of the first Multi-User Dungeon game (MUD) Richard Bartle published his theory of four player types. With his theory outlining the motivations of and interactions between achievers, explorers, killers and socialisers1, Bartle set a standard for the…
beyond bartle’s taxonomy: discover your game’s player types
Bartle’s Taxonomy of Player Types, or Player Type Theory1, is inescapable when learning about game design. Since Richard Bartle put down in writing the four player types he found in Multi-User Dungeon games (MUDs) in 1996, the theory has become…
hearthstone mercenaries mode is only good for the grind
The most recent new mode to arrive in Hearthstone was Mercenaries, in October 2021. Another distinct departure from traditional Hearthstone, this also differed from Battlegrounds and Duels in interesting ways. One notable trait was the procedural generation of maps of…
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…
hearthstone duels is its best designed game mode, with the least support
Duels was the Hearthstone mode we all knew was coming. Its format was the most logical next step for a collectible card game whose number of cards and mechanics were growing at an unsustainable rate. Personally, I think Duels is…
best of palace games escape rooms: houdini, roosevelt or edison?
Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to have played all of Palace Games’ in-person escape rooms. Located at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Palace Games offers the trio of The Great Houdini Escape Room, The Roosevelt…
