Useless biographical tidbit: I have a law degree. I don’t talk about it much, I don’t use it for anything, and I never passed the bar exam so I’m not an attorney. It was a waste of thousands of dollars, though I did pick up a few techniques on how to really annoy people in […]
Past Lessons: Innovations and Flaws in Ara: History Untold Read More »
Like many gamers, I’ve always got a “game of the moment” going – something I’m playing in my off-time, sometimes a board game, and sometimes a video game. Games have been the passion of my professional life and my hobby for as long as I can remember, back to when my mom let me drop
Decision Tree: Picking a New Game to Play Read More »
Ages ago, my industry friends and I had a running joke about young designers who viewed themselves as the “idea guy.” The framing stems from an uninformed view of how games are made – the concept that there’s a lonely genius on a team somewhere, possibly with a fancy title like Creative Director, who comes
Idea Guy: The Myths and Realities of Game Inception Read More »
It’s Photo Album Week here on the blog. I mentioned in passing a few weeks ago that one of the small but nice things about working in games was all the free swag that flows your way. Developer t-shirts are a mainstay, but over the years I’ve collected a veritable mountain of cups, clothing, and
Swag Collection: Physical Memories from a Game Career Read More »
In between consulting work, I’m plugging away on a solo project. While I’m not ready to talk about the details of the game itself, the process to date has been educational. Regardless of when I finally deliver it, I’m happy with the approach I’ve taken. The last time I worked on a solo project, just
First Steps: Lessons from Indie Game Prototyping Read More »
Ages ago, when I was a kid growing up in New Hampshire and Maryland, summer stretched out to Labor Day. It wasn’t until September that I’d wearily trudge back to the bus stop with a backpack full of fresh notebooks and pencils. Not so for my son in Texas, who starts his school year in
Dog Days: Hobbies from a Game Developer’s Summer Read More »
Back in January, I wrote about traditional wargames and their somewhat problematic nature. Still, it’s a genre I enjoy when I’m in the right mood. Digging deep into a historical battle and then re-reading a military history book to see how my experience differed from reality scratches a unique gaming itch. One of the most
Island Hopping: Three Wargames Take On the Same Conflict Read More »
Some months back, I wrote a love letter to SCS’s Euro Truck Simulator 2 – still one of my favorite relaxing gaming experiences. ETS2, which has been in active development for years, is a robust title with a ton of depth in its simulation. The various name-brand trucks feel genuinely different. They take damage in
Rich Soils: The Relaxing Joy of Farming Simulator Read More »
Over my long career, I’ve developed a short list of game development principles. The list is pretty short because one of the principles is that there isn’t a single right way to make games. The story of every great game’s development is unique. Different teams have found success with radically different approaches. Everything from team
Nuts and Bolts: Great Tools for Indie Game Developers Read More »
June marks a year since the unfortunate closure of BonusXP. For me personally, it marks a year of full-time consulting – a second go-around at dividing my time between my own solo game and work for a variety of paid clients, after my first stint back in 2019-2020. It’s no secret that the game industry
Scree Summer Roundup: Quick Takes on Hot Games Read More »