Design

A couple of weeks ago, I listed my success criteria as they relate to "player powered" games—aka "Immersive Simulations." This week, I talk about the first, and maybe most important of those criteria—Player Empowerment.

Riot Games claims Hyper Front delivers the "same game experience" as Valorant.

It was Agatha all along.

Repetition can be a game design strength if planned carefully.

In the second part of our interview, the developers explain how they streamlined the process while staying true to their design values.

In the first part of our interview, the developers explain why character creators are integral to building a diverse audience.

Evil Dead: The Game developer Saber Interactive has a new chief narrative officer: Craig Sherman. We discussed why studios might need this kind of role.

Beacon Pines' branching narrative makes the most out of dramatic irony.

Aside from a troubled start, Syberia: The World Before's protagonist Kate gets the introspective story she deserves.

A perfect balance in difficulty progression enhances the fun of survival games.

Matt Cox, Creative Director at Gearbox Software, breaks down the design decisions made so the game was familiar to the established audience, but also where they chose to invent beyond Borderlands and why.

Lessons learned from making a tiny point and click adventure game in Unity and Yarn Spinner: about a temperature sensitive queer couple and a lot of sparkling water!

Localization editor Andrew Singleton gives us a few behind-the-scenes stories about how the series has changed over the years.

Marvel's Midnight Suns director Jake Solomon shares key lessons from Firaxis' journey to ship Marvel's Midnight Suns.

Adding comedy to the mix makes doing the wrong thing in McPixel 3 feel so right.