Nels Anderson is a gameplay programmer at Hothead Games and probably the only game developer in Vancouver (and maybe all of Canada) that was born and raised in Wyoming. Prior to Hothead, he worked at Klei Entertainment. He believes in importance of independent game development and wishes he had a sardonic talking skull as a compatriot.
He writes about games and game design at Above 49. If Twitter is your proclivity, he's @Nelsormensch.
Using the word "fun" to discuss the core value of games is deeply problematic. Conversing with new players and non-gamers is going to require a new term. I propose "engagement" (even though it's still the "fun" most of us are used to).
This post looks at moral reasoning in games through the lens of Dr. Lawrence Kohlberg's six stages of moral development, providing further evidence that games are neglecting a powerful opportunity to engage players.
More readable systems could contribute to creating games that offer the same satisfaction as classic adventure games. This article looks at some places to start.
@Alex This isn't about children in the sense you seem to be thinking of. By Kohlberg's analysis, moral reasoning starts to move through stages in the late teens and through the 20s his long term study was subjects at age 10 and following them to age 30 . Re: your ...
@An I still think that having utterly unchanging linear stories can be problematic, I think we're both on the same page that having only a single solution to progression blocks in linear stories is more concerning. Having multiple possible outcomes to a single problem is a big step towards addressing ...
@An Heh, I think I had spaghetti the night I listened to Gladwell's talk the first time. It was likely not a coincidence. @Jason That's an absolutely fantastic observation and I completely agree. Nearly all academic HCI research is done with the participant in isolation and I think it's just ...
@Brendan I was having a very similar conversation with someone about this just today. The days of manuals are more or less gone, and I think this is a good thing. If a game requires an addition essay/article/whatever to explain how to play, it's failed to be intuitive. More sophisticated/complex ...
@Reid There's a number of ways to approach this. The key is to create mechanics that are predictable so they can give rise to interesting dynamics. The problem with adventure mechanics is that, unless the player is in tune with the designer's intent for the puzzle, they no absolutely no ...
