Blog Archives

There is never any excuse for not doing your best work. Not one single stinking reason. You can bring up all the excuses you want, but at the end of the day, it is unacceptable to not bring your A game. I overheard two people having an argument today, and it drove me home to [...]

Long title is long. I tried a few different titles, and they all failed to convey my intent. But before we get to my intent, some backstory. One of the biggest hurdles I had to overcome as a system designer was my obsession with “efficiency”. I am a scientist. It defines everything I love about [...]

Game design demands a lot of research. Good ideas come from all around you, and it is the height of arrogance to assume that you and you alone possess the power to envision undreamed solutions. Don’t be that asshole that thinks, despite all evidence to the contrary, that they shit gold. This manifests so often, [...]

I have nothing but contempt for Design Bible evangelists. It would be one thing if its proponents were off in their corner of the universe — awash in their own sea of ignorance; alas that is not the case, and people still push the idea that bigger is better, longer is stronger, and information density [...]

Inspiration has struck. This is it. You know what to do, what it should look like, and how it should function. Holy shit, this idea is awesome, and off you are running. All you want to do is jot this down, write it up, or lay it out. What image just popped into your head? [...]

Players want to kill the unkillable, solve the unsolvable, and explore the unexplored, but most of all, they want to feel they have accomplished great things