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JikGuard
Using Intensity to Drive Player Engagement
Designing games to appeal to both new and longtime players is a difficult challenge. In this post, I examine one of the ways we approach this challenge by using player intensity levels to drive AI behaviour.
July 25, 2017
JikGuard
Using 3D-Printed Trophies and Community Tournaments to Increase Player Engagement
TASTEE: Lethal Tactics launched in May 2016. We had a fantastic launch but we knew we had to keep our community engaged - and so we started organizing tournaments. This post is about how we run them, the prizes we created, and the results we've achieved.
July 25, 2017
JikGuard
Six Years after Moneyball
The events that inspired the movie Moneyball changed business forever. But to save time, the real punchline was left out of the movie. Businesses rushed to copy the movie but during the bromance they set themselves up for failure.
July 25, 2017
JikGuard
Video Game Deep Cuts: Castlevania Go-es To Arms
This week's longform articles & videos of the week include the making of the Castlevania Netflix series, hardcore Pokemon Go players, and an in-depth Arms interview.
July 24, 2017
JikGuard
Impostor Syndrome: I’m not really qualified to write this article
Ever felt like you're a fraud? Like you're faking it? That all of you're successes are attributed to luck and not hard work? Me too! This article explores my dealings with Impostor Syndrome and suggestions on how to combat it.
July 24, 2017
JikGuard
Towards Better Gamepad Text Input
The on-screen keyboard for consoles has barely changed in thirty years. Learn the history of gamepad text input, from the NES to the PS4. Then I'll describe how I iterated towards something better for my local co-op language-learning action game.
July 21, 2017
JikGuard
Planes of vulnerability in Commander Keen 5
In this essay Pieter Smal discusses the planes of vulnerability in id Software's ultimate platformer.
July 21, 2017
JikGuard
Why we will never show ads in our mobile games
Despite the mobile market being challenging and full of uncertainty, we are comfortable staying far away from one of the most popular ways to make money in it.
July 21, 2017
JikGuard
Player motivation, part 1: Biological foundation of emotions
This article serves only one purpose, explain in a simple way on how our memory works and how it’s affected by hormones and neurotransmitters. Why? To explain why and how psychological models works.
July 21, 2017
JikGuard
How Fire Emblem Heroes Made $100M from 10M Installs
Fire Emblem Heroes has been Nintendo's most successful self-developed mobile game. But what makes it successful?
July 21, 2017
JikGuard
Skip the “Game vs Story” and “Entertainment vs Practical-Utility” Traps: The Anatomy of Compelling Experiences
Rather than thinking about your game in terms of "game vs story" it is more useful to think of it as an experience. Some experiences are great because of their agency, some because of what they mean, and some because they help us solve a practical problem
July 21, 2017
JikGuard
Game Texture and Liminal Spaces
On strangely enchanting old games, thinking of games in physical terms, and the potential of flaws to create liminal spaces.
July 20, 2017