News

Persuasive UX: 5 Ways to use power of daily routines
Persuasive UX: 5 Ways to use power of daily routines
"Daily Routine" features that bring players repeatedly back to games are fast becoming a trend, in this post a close look at the Persuasive UX principles that Game & UX designers use to intrinsically motivate players to keep coming back for more!
Oct. 29, 2018
First Week Revenue Data from an Endless Puzzle Game on iOS
First Week Revenue Data from an Endless Puzzle Game on iOS
In-depth data and analysis of my first free-with-ads puzzle game on iOS, and how free games are more about multiplier stacking than I first realized.
Oct. 27, 2018
Game design deep dive: The creation of Gunhouse
Game design deep dive: The creation of Gunhouse
A deep dive into the creation of Gunhouse, a puzzle-meets-tower defense game, as filtered through conversations with various game developers and regular human beings like Cliff Bleszinski, Rami Ismail, and Simon Carless.
Oct. 26, 2018
Remembering the Excellence of Ghostbusters 2009
Remembering the Excellence of Ghostbusters 2009
Many games sadly slip under the cracks despite good reviews, and in honor of Halloween, I wanted to pay homage to one of the best licensed games that most of you never played.
Oct. 26, 2018
Kliuless? #9: China's Gaming Cold War Continues
Kliuless? #9: China's Gaming Cold War Continues
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.
Oct. 26, 2018
Lessons learned in game art production - Part I
Lessons learned in game art production - Part I
This article sums my experience in the production of two tiles: Conflict0:Shattered and Dead Body Falls. The article is divided in two parts and this is part I.
Oct. 26, 2018
Playing videogames: a rambling essay about hating what you love
Playing videogames: a rambling essay about hating what you love
What does it mean to "play videogames"? What do the games we play say about who we are?
Oct. 25, 2018
Paper.io 2: A Natural Difficulty Curve
Paper.io 2: A Natural Difficulty Curve
This arena based io game has a very elegant difficulty curve. As the player conquers more territory, the game space shrinks, making the game more hectic!
Oct. 25, 2018
A Different Approach to Difficulty
A Different Approach to Difficulty
A paradigm shift away from the idea that games should find more and more complex ways to serve players with different skill levels. But rather, they should give players with the tools to cook to their own palate, provided it is a meaningful experience.
Oct. 24, 2018
Audio Design for Interactive Narrative VR Experiences
Audio Design for Interactive Narrative VR Experiences
Audio design for interactive VR narrative not only directly affects the immersion of the experience, but it also affects how the composer guides the audience’s emotion. This article shares some insights using The Price of Freedom as a case study.
Oct. 24, 2018
Classic Tools Retrospective: The tools that built Deus Ex, with Chris Norden
Classic Tools Retrospective: The tools that built Deus Ex, with Chris Norden
David Lightbown interviews Chris Norden about the history of tools development for Deus Ex. Learn about how the team customized the Unreal Editor, developed dialogue and export tools, and created innovative lip-sync technology for this innovative FP-RPG.
Oct. 23, 2018
Graveyard Keeper: How the graphics effects are made
Graveyard Keeper: How the graphics effects are made
The summary of tips and tricks used in Graveyard Keeper to make different graphical effects and apply them on a pixel art picture.
Oct. 23, 2018