hero power creep in hearthstone’s new demon hunter class (part 2)
Last time, I talked about the game design challenges of releasing the first new class to the online card game Hearthstone. As a refresher, the Demon Hunter class was so powerful, and therefore problematic, that Hearthstone developers nerfed several new…
the rapid rise and fall of hearthstone’s new demon hunter class (part 1)
Let’s face it, Hearthstone’s new Demon Hunter class was always going to be trouble. In its biggest update since Hearthstone’s release in 2014, the popular online card game added the first new class ever to its roster of playable heroes…
3 time zones, 1 board game: gaming together in a time of social distancing
My first thought about playing a board game online was that it was never going to work. Nowadays, getting a group of friends together is almost impossible without weeks of notice, and even then, at least one person is bound…
how to make board games less painful: a game of thrones case study
On a snowy evening when winter was coming, I sat down to play A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (second edition) by Fantasy Flight Games, introduced to me with much excitement by my friend Emily. And then, as with…
safeway monopoly and game design for collectors
From February to April this year, Safeway ran its Monopoly promotion. I had to do the shopping for a couple of big events, so at the cash register after some large purchases I was given stacks of Safeway Monopoly tickets,…
death and victory on the oregon trail: card game vs. video game review
Unlike most of my friends, I never played The Oregon Trail when I was a kid. My first exposure to it was a few weeks ago, in card game format, and I was excited to see what all the fuss…
joking hazard: judgment and card games
Joke card games have become a genre unto themselves in the last few years. Games like Joking Hazard take this genre, lean into a certain type of humour, and run with it. In this post, I review and discuss Joking Hazard…
