The Power of Simple Systems (John Brindle)

More is always better, right? Wrong!

We're joined by games critic and all-around smart egg John Brindle to discuss his Waypoint article analyzing Frank Lantz's brilliant clicker game Universal Paperclips. Along the way, we cover why simple games are often the most impactful, how to make sure your game says what you want it to say, and the dangers of including mechanics without considering all of their implications.

We also talk about paperclips. Lots and lots of paperclips.

Additional reading

• Follow John on Twitter!
• John Brindle's essay on Universal Paperclips that inspired this episode
• The initial paper presenting the MDA framework (Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek)

Games we mentioned

• Everything You Swallow Will One Day Come Up Like A Stone (Porpentine) - TRIGGER WARNING (suicidal ideation, among others)
• Lim (Merrit K)
• Cart Life (Richard Hofmeier, now open-sourced)
• Proteus (Ed Key and David Kanaga)
• Spent (Urban Ministries of Durham)
• Don't Be a Puppet (Uh... the FBI)
• The Best Amendment (Molleindustria)
• Urban Nightmare: State of Chaos

Questions? Comments? Thoughts on the format changes? Contact us on Twitter or email mailbox@pgipodcast.com. And if you liked the show, please review us on Apple Podcasts!

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Header image from Lim by Merrit K