October 2015 Patreon Q&A #1
In this chat, Mike talks about Development Hell and what playing games is like as a game developer. Patreon Credits As always, these articles wouldn’t be possible without my supporters…
September 2015 Patreon Q&A
Topics this time include "How Mike got into making games," "balancing economies like in Ratchet and Clank" Patreon Credits As always, these articles wouldn’t be possible without my supporters on…
Chen Diagrams
This picture does not match the content around it. It is merely here to give the impression that this article is not all about words. Stupid words! In my fourth…
Episode 3 – Guest: Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda
Theme song: Straw Fields, by RoleMusic In this episode Mike talks with designer/writer Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda about a range of topics. Annie is currently co-owner of studio DoubleBear, whose…
Learning from other Media
About five years ago or so, I felt like I needed to improve my game design skills, so I looked around to see what kind of books there were out…
Reward Schedules
Carnival games are a great example of reward schedules. Since we've now established the best way to influence player behavior is via rewards, I want to talk about the ways…
Changing Player Behavior
previous article | next article One thing I need to do a lot as a game designer is come up with ways to get players to do what I want them…
Mike’s August 2015 Patreon Q&A
Watch Mike get flustered setting up new gear. He then thinks his fancy new equipment is recording high quality audio, but the awful camera mic was recording awful audio instead.…
Episode 2 – Guest: Ryan Juckett
Theme song: Straw Fields, by RoleMusic In this episode, Mike talks with programmer Ryan Juckett about everything from being a programmer in the games industry to the challenges of creating an indie…
A Morality Tale
This week I'm going to tell the story of how I learned one of the most important things I ever learned about game design: As a designer, it is not my job…