News

JikGuard
Understanding player behavior - What to read
Five books to read to better understand player psychology and behavior.
Dec. 9, 2019
JikGuard
Video game purism and mixed media.
A historical look at video games, how they went from simple interactive games to incorporating traditional forms of media and where the current technological developments might lead us.
Dec. 9, 2019
JikGuard
Kliuless #61: Sony's First 25 Years
Each week I compile a gaming industry insights newsletter that I publish broadly. Opinions are mine.
Dec. 9, 2019
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Writings on the Wall: Sharing Accessible Narratives Through Environmental Design
How can designers leverage the environment in their games to share accessible narratives to players? This article examines how The Last of Us, God of War (2018), and Inside create compelling narratives through environmental design.
Dec. 9, 2019
JikGuard
Video Game Deep Cuts: PlayStation's 25th, Top Games Of 2019 2
This week's roundup includes excellent pieces on the PlayStation's 25th anniversary, multiple new 2019 'best of' game lists, and great articles on Katana Zero, Shovel Knight, Knights Of The Old Republic modders, Mario Maker 2, and lots more.
Dec. 8, 2019
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King Knight's Map: Building Secret Paths
A deep dive on why and how we designed a new feature in Shovel Knight: King of Cards- secret exits in levels!
Dec. 6, 2019
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How Do Bullets Work in Video Games?
A high-level introduction to how game engines implement projectile logic.
Dec. 6, 2019
JikGuard
Into the Vortex: Procedurally Generating a Hearthstone Clone
My latest #procjam entry was an exercise in generating complex artifacts out of a single Energy value, along a few procgen paintings to go with them. This covers tricks and design rationale I used to make such a project (kinda) fit a jam timeline.
Dec. 6, 2019
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Video: Outer Wilds — Is it my Genre? Trailer Analysis
Outer Wilds' precise blend of genre seems impossible to talk about without spoilers, but it can be done: in this trailer analysis video (with transcript)!
Dec. 5, 2019
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Ghost Recon Breakpoint: Another way to give the Intel to the players
Breakpoint introduced a new way to dispatch the Intel the players need to progress in the story and the open-world.
Dec. 4, 2019
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The Perception of Fairness
Sometimes a game or a situation does not need to be fair, as long as players perceive that it is fair. Coin Master gave a great example of this.
Dec. 3, 2019
JikGuard
Together, we built a successful digital board games business. Here are 5 crucial lessons we learned.
How we built a digital board game studio, the lessons we’ve learned, and how we’ve managed to sustain a successful mobile game development and publishing business without feeling the need to succumb to the dark arts of free to play mechanics & consuma
Dec. 3, 2019