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That game design life
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17d
That game design life
Smug Owls
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A delightful riddle-making game. Flip over cards to make a riddling question, then each player invents an answer. Best answer collects cards, but we mostly ignore the scoring and just play for riddling fun!
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11
1
18d
That game design life
The Fuzzies
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An aesthetically pleasing variation on Jenga. (Though a Jenga tower can also be a thing of beauty!) I especially enjoy that knocking fuzzballs out of place doesn’t end the game, but instead adds a constraint to your next turn.
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9
3
19d
That game design life
The Hygge Game
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The questions in this game go beyond the generic, but are still very appropriate for people who are still getting to know each other. It’s especially nice that each card has questions at different levels of intensity. I used this at a lab party and it was a hit!
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4
19d
That game design life
Lacuna
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This is one of the most aesthetically pleasing games I own. The colors are great, the pieces have a nice heft in the hand, and the whole thing comes in a cute tube that you can toss in your bag and take anywhere.
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11
3
23d
That game design life
Twentyroll Trivia Games
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One learning principle that will help you retain knowledge is spaced repetition, a research-backed technique that presents information multiple times at increasing intervals so that you move it from short-term to long-term memory. A little searching turned up this trivia game that seems to incorporate spaced repetition and recall techniques. If you try it, let me know what you think!
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3
1
23d
That game design life
Person Do Thing
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This is a delightful guessing game with a very small footprint. One player gets a card with a word they must explain, and a list of words they may use to do so. (Think of it as reverse Taboo.) Everyone else can guess. All you need is the space to put out a stack of cards, you can play for as long or as short as you want, and it's easy for people to step in and out of the game as desired. The only caveat is that as people get excited about the game, it can get a bit noisy, but I think that just makes a party more fun!
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13
1
4w
That game design life
The Door Problem
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What does a game designer actually do? A very good explanation, with doors.
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8
1
5w
Living well
Create a custom lock screen
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I made a custom lock screen with a list of non-phone things that are important to me. When I pick up my phone, I take a minute to reflect on whether I’d rather be doing one of those other things. When I feel like my phone time is getting out of hand, I step it up one notch: I must do one of the things on my list for five minutes before phone time. Often I get absorbed and don’t go back to the phone at all. Two key moves here: Reframe from what you don’t want to what you DO want Add a tiny bit of friction at the point where you make a choice
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93
1
5w
That game design life
Katie
The Strong National Museum of Play
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LEGENDARY
2
5w
That game design life
The Examined Life in the Age of Optimisation (Rodney King)
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My thoughts on this article are very much still forming, but since I've been thinking about for a week, I figure it's time for a rec. Thought one: as a game designer, I'm very familiar with people's urge to optimize within the context of a system. For example, it's what gets people to grind for levels, even when exploring a new area might be more fun for them. Stafford Beer talked about this as "The purpose of a system is what it does," while I typically frame it as people being sensitive to the system you made and not the one you imagined, but I think these concepts are tightly related. Thought two: as a scholar, I see this through the lens of meta-motivational states. The urge to optimize is highly telic - directed toward a future goal - rather than paratelic, or directed toward the immediately pleasurable. This article is a good illustration of why we need both. The urge to play isn't something to be suppressed, but rather engaged as a way of being in the world. Thought three: as a Jew, the idea of philosophy being about practicing a way of living is no surprise. Maimonides, for example, argued that the point of Jewish practice is to enable you to live like a "philosopher-king," since most of us cannot figure out right living from first principles. This is why I'm so serious about practicing both Jewish traditions and values on a daily basis - whether that's feeding my pets before I feed myself, or paying people as fairly as I am able, or studying a piece of Torah. I have no clever conclusion yet, but that's what I'm thinking!
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6
7w
That game design life
Soph
Unpacking Game
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This game is a masterclass in environmental storytelling. The mechanics are simple (take objects out of boxes, place them in the environment), but the game experience is super emotionally engaging. Also, we love to see a Jewish main character in a game!
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2
8w
That game design life
Board game night
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You can host your own, or find one at a game cafe near you. Either way, playing games with someone is a great way to get to know them better! Fun fact: at one point in my career I was interviewing people about two-player games, and I repeatedly heard stories of folks (mostly women) ending a new relationship because the other person got hostile, defensive, or sulky after losing a game.
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6
8w
That game design life
Quinn
Owlbear Rodeo for DnD Virtual Maps
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A well-designed map interface is a thing of beauty.
2
8w
Living well
Custom ring as a daily reminder
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Instead of a name, I had this ring made with the word "play." Every time I look at it, I'm reminded of why I do the work that I do - and why embracing my own playful side is such an important part of it.
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24
1
8w
That game design life
Charlise
Murdoku
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This is a great example of "Frankenstein" game design, where merging elements from well-understood genres creates something delightfully different.
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2
1
8w
That game design life
Unionize This Movie
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Unions are awesome! Movies are awesome! Vote once per day on how unions could make movie characters' lives more awesome!
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4
8w
That game design life
Training Your Design Judgment
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This is a great article about how to train design judgment. I especially appreciate the emphasis on curation, reflection, and craft skills. Interestingly, it takes some careful thinking to consider how to translate these steps to game design. For example, observing is key (especially when you are learning to playtest effectively!), but you must also understand the internal experiences that go along with play. Maybe I just need to write the game design version of this article!
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2
10w
That game design life
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective