We all know conversation is a game. Sometimes it’s a game with a very definite prize, like getting someone to think you’re interesting enough that they’ll give you their phone number, or getting someone to trust you enough that they’ll consider your business proposal. Whatever the goal is, conversation is challenging, scalable, and interactive – […]
Read more "Conversation: the Rules"Adrian has been writing a fascinating series of posts on Civilization over at mssv. I’m a massive Civ fan myself. I installed the very first version of the game from floppy disks onto my mom’s computer back in 1992. It was a beige IBM desktop, whose processing power would seem puny next to a lot […]
Read more "Scale and Storytelling in Civilization"People say there’s not much good storytelling in games, but I think that’s simply not true. I think, instead, that most people are looking in the wrong place. The other day I was playing Left 4 Dead 2, and something awesome happened: a narrative of altruism, sacrifice . . . and ultimately, betrayal. The stuff […]
Read more "Drama, not Prose: Storytelling in Games"Britain’s Parliament just published a video game that’s meant to give a taste of what it’s like being a back-bench MP. It’s pretty good. WIN, in fact. MP for a Week isn’t an action-filled extravaganza or a feast of beautiful 3D graphics. Instead, it’s an innovative interactive experience that uses good, relevant gameplay and good […]
Read more "MP for a Week – WIN"Why are really good games fun? Here’s an attempt to deconstruct one in detail. PopCap’s Peggle: a Masterpiece of game design. I tend to like a certain kind of game. Half-Life, Call of Duty, Halo . . . See a pattern there? A lot of my friends play similar games. You know – hard-core gamer […]
Read more "Anatomy of Fun: Why Peggle is a Masterpiece"
Philip Trippenbach 