News

Video Game Deep Cuts: NASA Slime-d Me With A BadCupid 2
Video Game Deep Cuts: NASA Slime-d Me With A BadCupid 2
This week's highlights include a look at NASA's new commissions in the video game space, the crunch-free development of Slime Rancher, and a very offkilter procedurally generated dating game, among other things.
Jan. 21, 2019
The Rise of The Influencer - And Why Epic's New Store Approach Is Huge
The Rise of The Influencer - And Why Epic's New Store Approach Is Huge
Ten years ago in 2009, the word influencer didn’t bear much weight. Now, it's part of the core approach for the new Epic Games Store - but why?
Jan. 18, 2019
The Elegance of First-Time User Experience in Valve’s The Lab
The Elegance of First-Time User Experience in Valve’s The Lab
A deep-dive into the first few minutes of Valve's VR playground The Lab, examining how it onboards players into room-scale VR invisibly, painlessly, and even joyfully.
Jan. 17, 2019
Kliuless #19: An Improbable Dispute with Unity and Epic
Kliuless #19: An Improbable Dispute with Unity and Epic
Each week I compile a gaming industry insights newsletter that I share with other Rioters, including Riot’s senior leadership. This edition is the public version that I publish broadly every week as well. Opinions are mine.
Jan. 17, 2019
Advanced UX Prototyping: Next Gen. Prototyping for Games & Apps.
Advanced UX Prototyping: Next Gen. Prototyping for Games & Apps.
Why and How to create Hi-fidelity game UX prototypes that rival finished game's feel to gather qualitative user data or pitch a new idea, way early in pre-production.
Jan. 17, 2019
Why nobody cares about your indie game
Why nobody cares about your indie game
The top 5 reasons indie game marketing falls on deaf ears - and how to steer things back on track for your game!
Jan. 17, 2019
Fascination with the Obra Dinn
Fascination with the Obra Dinn
Having played Return of the Obra Dinn recently, I was inspired to write about historical settings, exploring themes, co-linear storytelling, and ships - all within the context of the Obra Dinn.
Jan. 17, 2019
The Conflicting Design of the Zelda-Rogue
The Conflicting Design of the Zelda-Rogue
The idea of combining the handcrafted design of a Zelda title with the procedural generation of a rogue-like may sound like a dream come true, but it's often a challenge too big for most designers to handle.
Jan. 16, 2019
Why 2018 taught us more than any other year - and how it can help your game development studio
Why 2018 taught us more than any other year - and how it can help your game development studio
Small developers often feel like they lose business momentum between launches. Here are four lessons that helped us grow our business in 2018, even though we didn't release a new game.
Jan. 15, 2019
Games and Crowdfunding in 2018
Games and Crowdfunding in 2018
A look at 2018 numbers for crowdfunding and video games.
Jan. 15, 2019
Overcoming Genre
Overcoming Genre
Ni no Kuni 2 is basically a collection of mechanically diverse minigames. What keeps the overall experience from feeling cobbled together? This article dives into how Ni no Kuni 2 defies the typical categories of game design.
Jan. 15, 2019
Localization in The Machinery’s UI
Localization in The Machinery’s UI
A description of how we do UI localization in The Machinery.
Jan. 15, 2019