recipe for horror: asymmetric multiplayer and slasher video games
Since it’s spooky season, I thought I’d write a post on a game mode that is the perfect match for horror video games. I’m talking about asymmetric multiplayer, in which different players play and experience the game in a different…
gotham knights’ 4 playable bat-family characters: hopes and fears
One of my latest lockdown activities has been playing the eleven-year-old video game that put Batman games on the map, Arkham Asylum. That nostalgia, combined with my love of Batman, games and comics, had me on the edge of my…
the thrill of narrow wins in slay the spire and mario kart
You know that moment in a movie when the hero is certainly doomed but pulls himself through at the very last second? From Indiana Jones’ evasion of a rolling boulder to Jack Sparrow’s escape from the gallows, some of the…
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…
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…
3 multiplayer game design techniques for human interaction
The standard for fun multiplayer games was set long before anything digital existed. Playing cards around a table, shooting pool at a bar, or enjoying a board game night with friends are social activities that effectively use multiplayer design in…
