Hooded Horse's Tim Bender doesn't think constant growth should define games
In this evening's edition, we have a featured blog on the problems with tunnel vision in game design, a book excerpt from Designing Games Meant for Sharing, and news from the likes of Roblox, Hooded Horse, and more.
It's time to talk about why tunnel vision is bad for game design.
Tunnel-vision in this respect is only looking at the industry and games from one specific point of view — yours. We see this from critics, journalists, YouTubers, streamers, and consumers: “I don’t like game X, so X is just bad” or “I really like this, so it must be perfect.”
We can also see this any time a game comes out as a surprise hit — your Balatros, Vampire Survivors, FTL, and so on. You will always hear a chorus of people declaring “Why is this game doing so well? It’s just X.” Game design analysis is still a mystery to people, not just those outside of the industry. Being able to examine the UI/UX, the progression, and the feel of a game to see how it resonates with people may sound like magic, but for people like me who do this daily, it’s as easy as breathing.
'This book talks about the importance of social mechanics in games and how these mechanics evolved over time to accommodate new technologies and new social contexts.'
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Founder & CEO, Group 8 Security Solutions Inc. DBA Machine Learning Intelligence
2wSuper helpful!
Business Development Manager @ 1D3 | Ex-Krafton EU | Game Producer, Audio Specialist, Project Manager|
3wIt shouldn't, but when everything's Early Access, one does hope for a full release. Or if it even is a full release, players will still think they've been promised more. It's about managing expectations.