Sep 3, 2024
In this episode, Tim and Joel talk about why certain
games are so replayable, why that is, if and when it is important,
and how designers can intentionally think about replayability in
their own games.
We frame this discussion in terms of intrinsic
motivations (gameplay that is inherently pleasurable)
and extrinsic...
Jul 9, 2024
When most games, even some of our favorites, will occupy us for at most 40 or 50 hours, some manage to sink their hooks in for much (sometimes *much*) longer. Why is that? What is it about the designs of these games, the cadence, the core loops, that make us keep coming back again and again? What can game designers...
Sep 25, 2023
In part two of our conversation with Nic Tringali, we go deeper into their development process. Design and prototyping, testing, setting victory conditions, and the delightful old-school addition to the game: the manual.
00:00:00 - Theme - how did the look come together? Concept of cathedrals stretching through time.
Sep 18, 2023
Nic Tringali - The Banished Vault
Nic Tringali is a game designer for Bithell Games. Their recent release The Banished Vault (published by Bithell Games’ Lunar Division) is a gothic space-faring exploration and survival game, released on July 25th to very positive reviews. We talk with Nic about their early gaming...
Aug 17, 2023
Josh Sawyer of Obsidian Entertainment has one of the more robust CVs in game design: Iceland Dale 1 and 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 and most recently, the highly-praised historical role-playing game Pentiment.
We focus on various aspects of the production of Pentiment: avoiding burnout, drawing...