Fundamentals¶

Roles of Games

The Meaning of Depth

The Pitfall of Brute-Force Skills

Why You Shouldn't Have Persistent Consequences For Failure

Cheap Difficulty As Opposed To Unfair Difficulty

Trial And Error Gameplay - Stop Making Excuses For It

Forking Player Interests - Plz No

The Right Way To Do Progress Saving

No, A Little Bit of Randomness Is Not Okay

Ancillary Benefits of Simplicity

Why Pure "Casual" Games Are Degenerate

Specifics¶

How To Create Variety In A Deterministic Game

Healing in Action Games

Pros And Cons Of Different Game Modes In PvP Shooters

Don't Interrupt The Game

How To Mitigate The Bore of Waiting In Turn-Based Games

The Importance of Turn Timers

The Harm of Obvious Choices

Feedback Loops

How JRPGs Can Do Better: Bowser's Inside Story

How JRPGs Can Do Better: Every Mario RPG (main_gi guest article)

Why Forcing The Player Can Be Good

Non-game mechanics¶

Difficulty Settings

The Right Way To Do Queue Settings

The Wisdom of Prismata's Emote System

Some Insight On The Trash Heap That Is AAA Video Games

The Misguided Use Of Statistics As An Indication Of Game Balance

Final Fantasy 13: Story Games Gone Wrong