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Lewis Pulsipher's Blog
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Dr. Lew Pulsipher started playing boardgames more than 50 years ago. He designed his own games, then discovered strategic "realistic" gaming with early Avalon Hill wargames, and ultimately earned a Ph.D. in military and diplomatic history. He contributed to ETC Press' Analog: Tabltop Game Design, and his book "Game Design: How to Create Video and Tabletop Games, Start to Finish” will be published by McFarland (Spring 2012 new titles catalog page). Formerly contributing editor to several role-playing game magazines and author of over a hundred game magazine articles, he is designer of Britannia (UK, US, and Germany in separate editions), Dragon Rage, Valley of the Four Winds, Swords and Wizardry, and Diplomacy Games & Variants. Britannia (2nd edition) appeared in 2006, with foreign editions (German, French, Spanish, Hungarian) in 2008. It was described in an Armchair General review of a 2006 edition as "ready to continue on as one of the great titles in the world of games".
Latest published game, Dragon Rage, 2011.
Current projects are at PulsipherGames.Com.
Game design blog: http://pulsiphergamedesign.blogspot.com/ |
Expert Blogs
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What do we mean by "elegance" in games? |
| Posted by Lewis Pulsipher on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 08:04:00 EST in
Game Design
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| When someone says a game or part of a game design is "elegant", what do they mean? I'm not sure, so I've done a bit of investigating. |
| Read More... | 5 Comments |
Depth versus Variety: a Fundamental Change in Game Playing in the Past 30-40 Years  |
| Posted by Lewis Pulsipher on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:28:00 EST in
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| 30-40 years ago many hobby game players looked for gameplay depth (and occasionally narrative depth) in their games. Now most game players don’t look for gameplay depth but look instead for variety, which is quite a different thing. |
| Read More... | 27 Comments |
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Six words about stories in games |
| Posted by Lewis Pulsipher on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:29:00 EST in
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| According to a recent tweetdeck, a trending:worldwide topics on twitter was 6 word stories. I've asked people to say 6 words about game design, programming, wargames, and casual games.
This time let's hear six words about stories in games. |
| Read More... | 27 Comments |
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Game descriptions, rules, and mechanics: what are the differences and similarities? |
| Posted by Lewis Pulsipher on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:35:00 EST in
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| A video game design student was told to describe mechanics for a game, and his instructor told him he’d written rules instead. The rules for a tabletop game detail the mechanics of the game, so what is the difference between rules and mechanics? |
| Read More... | 17 Comments |
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What is Depth in Games? |
| Posted by Lewis Pulsipher on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:18:00 EST in
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| What is “depth” in games? It’s another of those “everyone knows what it means but does not define it”. I'm not defining it yet, I'm asking readers to help define it. |
| Read More... | 45 Comments |
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Six Words About Casual Games |
| Posted by Lewis Pulsipher on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:10:00 EST in
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| Can you say in 6 words what makes casual games interesting--or not? |
| Read More... | 48 Comments |
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Lewis Pulsipher's Comments
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Comment In: Depth versus Variety: a Fundamental Change in Game Playing in the Past 30-40 Years [Blog - 01/22/2012 - 09:28]
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Insofar as most game players ... Insofar as most game players no longer look for depth, preferring variety, then no, a deep game isn't likely to work for them. As with students and many ideas/topics, the players must be at a stage where they're ready for/interested in a deep game. If they're not, then in a ... |
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Comment In: Six words about stories in games [Blog - 01/14/2012 - 05:29]
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How about: Not the best ... How about: Not the best medium for storytelling Stories provide context for learning gameplay Themes influence gameplay, atmosphere does not Players should write their own stories Story often an excuse for action HiSTORY games can be learning tools Gameplay must come first, story later A game story idea Worth nothing. ... |
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Comment In: Interview: What RISK: Factions hopes to do for 'real' games on Facebook [News - 01/11/2012 - 08:20]
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When I saw RISK's real ... When I saw RISK's real world logic-heavy background I almost stopped reading. Real-world and RISK have very little in common. So they're taking advantage of the brand, the same way Hasbro has taken advantage of the Battleship brand to make a movie that has nothing to do with the game. ... |
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Comment In: Game descriptions, rules, and mechanics: what are the differences and similarities? [Blog - 01/09/2012 - 08:35]
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There's a tendency for people ... There's a tendency for people to think that a game is the sum of its mechanics. To me a good game is more than the sum of its parts. How those mechanics work with one another, and how they work with actual human players, makes a big difference in the ... |
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Comment In: What is Depth in Games? [Blog - 12/19/2011 - 10:18]
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Game makers have pre-conceived notions ... Game makers have pre-conceived notions of play Perhaps that depends a lot on the maker and the kind of game. When I design a tabletop game, I know how I play, but I also know that other people often play differently, and one of the most fascinating times is when ... |
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Comment In: Six Words About Casual Games [Blog - 12/14/2011 - 02:10]
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Less challenging for entertainment and ... Less challenging for entertainment and relaxation Fewer choices for entertainment and relaxation Simple puzzles for entertainment and relaxation Less challenging, fewer choices, simple puzzles |
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