why we don’t play “rock, paper, scissors, lizard, spock”
If you’ve seen The Big Bang Theory, you’ve heard of a game called “Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock”. The TV show popularised Sam Kass and Karen Bryla’s expanded version of “Rock, Paper, Scissors”, which included two more hand gestures, “Lizard” and…
legends of runeterra review: player agency in card games
Riot Games’ new collectible card game Legends of Runeterra is, in a word, frustrating. This is a game with high production value – polished graphics, animations and sound design as expected from the creators of League of Legends. And yet,…
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…
diablo 3 and the importance of whimsydale
I will always remember the day I discovered Whimsydale in Diablo 3. It was my birthday, and I was playing as a necromancer. I’d enjoyed Diablo 3 up until then, but finding Whimsydale was the moment that entrenched Diablo 3…
puzzle game design: are you creating impossible puzzles?
I have always liked puzzles. There are few things that give me more satisfaction than putting my mind to a problem and solving it. A good description connects this to our relationship with pain. People solve puzzles because they like…
time is (micro) money: designing micro-transactions and waiting in games
Last Wednesday, I spent about three hours at the local DMV waiting to renew my driver’s license. During that time, I finished reading the book I had brought, had a lengthy conversation with my parents on the phone, and joked…
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…
foldit, player motivation and video games for science
Picture this: You’ve just come home from a long day at work, and have the promise of a free evening before you. It’s been a stressful day, and you want to relax. Do you a) fire up your favourite video…
we are addicted to progress: designing progression in games
On a car ride in the passenger seat, my friend handed me his phone and asked me to help him hatch some chickens while he was driving. He was talking about Egg, Inc., this game where you tap a red…