Jeff Petraska is a long-time board and computer gamer, and has written articles over the years for Fire & Movement, The General, and C3i magazines. He sent me a long email full of questions last week, and I thought it would work much better as a full post than as an exchange between us. As […]
Entries Tagged as 'Design'
Guest Blog: Message and Meaning in Strategy Games
October 11th, 2010 · 17 Comments · Design, Guest Blog
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Three Moves Ahead Episode 78: Forgettable Games, Memorable Ideas
August 19th, 2010 · 31 Comments · Design, Podcast, Three Moves Ahead
Troy and Rob dig through their histories to recall bad games that had tiny moments of genius. What happens when a game gets one thing right? Can forgotten games still have a legacy beyond their failures? Can a good idea overshadow a bad game’s legacy? Also reminders of the Question show coming up in […]
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Three Moves Ahead Episode 77: Starcraft 2 with Chris Remo
August 10th, 2010 · 13 Comments · Blizzard, Design, Podcast, RTS, Three Moves Ahead
Troy – suffering from a splitting headache – is joined by Rob Zacny, Tom Chick (hooray) and Idle Thumbs/Gamasutra star Chris Remo before he heads off to join Irrational Games. The topic: Starcraft 2. Why does such a competitive, sports structured game like SC2 have such wide appeal? Is the single player campaign really […]
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Three Moves Ahead Episode 74: Classic Game Analysis – Freedom Force w/ Ken Levine
July 20th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Design, Interview, Podcast, Retro, Three Moves Ahead
Ken Levine from Irrational Games drops by the show to talk about what made Freedom Force so special. Is it an RPG or a strategy game? We discuss the virtues of pausable real time play, the fine line between homage and parody and learn about what games Ken plays when he is not writing […]
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Guessing Wrong
July 18th, 2010 · 10 Comments · Design
I spent last week working my way through Spartacus: Blood and Sand, the Starz TV series from earlier this year that is equal parts soapy fun and ridiculously overdone spectacle. The first couple of episodes are terrible, and it never really rises above “good”. But the pacing is excellent with some great “what the hell […]
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Pacing a Strategy Narrative
July 4th, 2010 · 9 Comments · Akella, Design
“Pacing” is one of those words that critics use as sort of a catch-all to explain why a game doesn’t flow as well as it should. It can refer to stories or plots that climax too soon or too late, to mechanics that get in the way of whatever progress you are making in learning […]
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