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…
a study of gender and roles of heroes of the storm heroes
A year ago, I wrote a blog post analysing the gender and roles of League of Legends champions. Unsurprisingly, the video game stereotype of females in support roles1 was reinforced by the distribution of gameplay roles amongst LoL‘s 150+ playable…
the attraction escape room is palace games’ storytelling gem: review
Palace Games’ new escape room, The Attraction, was a long time coming. When I booked it back in early 2020, I had no idea that a pandemic would postpone our date almost two years. But nonetheless, masked and equipped with…
figment: a mind full of incoherent video game design
For a game that’s set inside a human mind, Figment doesn’t make a lot of sense. Released in 2017 by Bedtime Digital Games, Figment is a single-player action-adventure game including platforming, puzzles, and boss battles where the boss sings an elaborately…
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…
disney star wars: galactic starcruiser hotel’s biggest design challenges
Marketed as “a 2-night, immersive adventure”, Disney’s Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel is set to open in Spring 2022. This project, first announced way back in summer 20171, will welcome guests on board a spaceship called the Halcyon. There, guests…
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…
disney genie plus app and the game design of fastpass
FastPass has been an integral part of my experience visiting the Disney theme parks. Introduced in 1999, the system was initially designed as a virtual queue. At popular rides, FastPass kiosks printed a limited number of tickets for time slots…
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…