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…
breath of the wild 2: why a playable zelda is not good enough
Ever since I played my first Legend of Zelda game – it was Link’s Awakening, if you were curious – I’ve wondered why I was playing as Link in a series named for Zelda. Eventually, I stopped asking questions, because that was…
best travel video games for explorers, adventurers and experts
2020 has been a year of lockdowns, quarantines and social distancing. For travel enthusiasts, or even those of us who were looking forward to a drive away for the weekend or a trip home for the holidays, it’s been difficult. …
why i’m playing zelda: breath of the wild during the covid-19 pandemic
I’ve wanted to write about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for a long time, because of the profound impact it had on my life and the lightbulbs it lit up in my game design brain. In fact,…
a shady trick for designing distinct video game characters
When I was playing Red Dead Redemption 2 the other night, I realized that I was having trouble recognizing the characters. Now, I don’t mean that the art wasn’t good – RDR2 is beautiful, with detailed character animations and cinematic…
