News

JikGuard
What Stadia's pivot tells us about the future of cloud gaming 2
Google Stadia has given up on its plan to build out robust first-party dev studios for its cloud gaming platform. What gives, and what's next for cloud gaming? Here's some thoughts...
Feb. 3, 2021
JikGuard
Is Steam really conspiring to price fix? 2
A new class action lawsuit against Valve suggests that price fixing could be at play on Steam. Is this really happening, and if so, has antitrust law actually been breached? We look into it (& lots more!)
Feb. 2, 2021
JikGuard
The 'fab four' game marketing maxims to live by 2
Riffing off a Tweet from Failbetter's Hannah Flynn, we look at four key indie game marketing maxims, with help from The Beatles, and why you should pay attention to them.
Jan. 28, 2021
JikGuard
What I learned from doing a game jam every month for a year...
In 2020, I challenged myself to complete ONE GAME JAM EVERY MONTH for the whole year... here's what I learned, why you should consider trying it, and how the lessons I learned might be able to help you.
Jan. 28, 2021
JikGuard
Unexplored's Secret: 'Cyclic Dungeon Generation'
2017's dungeon crawler Unexplored pioneered a new approach to procedural dungeon generation, by designing cycles of gameplay that are translated into level designs.
Jan. 28, 2021
JikGuard
Bioshock Infinite: A level analysis from a gameplay point of view #5
This fifth part will cover Tears, Elizabeth's perception by the player and how her Tears behave compared to other resources and enemies
Jan. 27, 2021
JikGuard
How Randomness Contributes to Strategic Thinking
By defining what makes a strategy game valuable, I explore how random outcomes contribute to strategic thinking and help us grow our creativity, problem solving abilities and connection to others.
Jan. 27, 2021
JikGuard
5 Insights from 3700 Reviews of Cyberpunk 2077
To get at the heart of the factors driving the positive and negative reviews of Cyberpunk 2077, my team analyzed 3,700 Metacritic reviews. This post highlights five takeaways from the analysis.
Jan. 27, 2021
JikGuard
A Design Discussion on Death Stranding
For this analysis, I looked at Death Stranding and how one of the most polarizing games of the last generation holds up from a design perspective.
Jan. 26, 2021
JikGuard
How much should I discount my game?
I share data on past discounts with Academia : School Simulator in an effort to find the best discount for our version 1 launch.
Jan. 25, 2021
JikGuard
Opinion: Xbox's Gold pricing flipflop & Game Pass ramifications 2
What happened with Microsoft's change of heart over increased pricing on Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, and what does it mean for the future of Xbox Game Pass? We examine in detail...
Jan. 25, 2021
JikGuard
How Low Can You Go?
Or the Unexpected Virtue in Monetizing Video Games Through Microtransactions
Jan. 22, 2021