Pacing Your Game (Nina Freeman)

How do you open your game with a bang, hold the player's attention through hours of gameplay, and wrap things up in a way that feels satisfying and complete? We sure the heck don't know, but special guest Nina Freeman (Cibele, Tacoma, how do you Do it?) does!

In this episode, we discuss game introductions, how difficulty progression and story can both drive player engagement, the value of vignette-style storytelling, the way that sports tell stories, and whether games even need endings. Plus, lots more incisive and indecisive discussion about your favorite games!

Additional reading

Games we mentioned

Questions? Comments? Thoughts on the pacing of this episode? Contact us on Twitter or email mailbox@pgipodcast.com. And if you liked the show, please review us

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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

Games we mentioned

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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Building Inclusive Games (Dee Del Rosario)

Everyone plays games, but games aren't always designed with everyone in mind. In this episode, we're joined by Dee Del Rosario as we discuss how to build games that include and appeal to as many people as possible. We cover why representational inclusivity is so important, tools for making your games more accessible, how to support marginalized creators, and the importance of putting in the effort to do your research and remaining critical of your own work.

Plus, we recommend tons of great groups, conferences, and talks for you to investigate and get involved with to learn even more!

Remember: be critical of your own work, keep and open mind, and always be willing to listen.

GDC Talks
Designing for accessibility

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Growing as a Designer (Emma Larkins)

We talk a lot about how to make your games better, but how do you make yourself better? Emma Larkins joins us to discuss honing your analytical skills, the importance of daily practice, valuable game design resources, and how to not take feedback personally.

Join in the fun by posting your own design practice to #gamedesigndaily on Twitter, Instragram, or your hashtaggable social media service of choice!

Questions? Comments? Want to share your own tips for design self-improvement? 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 Game Dev Story by Kairosoft

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Reading List 3: Unpolished Gems

We're back with the next episode of our increasingly numerically fraught Reading List subseries! This time Ryan, Rob, and Jon are joined by special guest Vivian Wong to discuss some of our favorite 'unpolished gems' -- games that might not be remembered as best in class (or remembered at all), but that still have great ideas that are worth taking a second look at.

Games covered this time include Candy Box, Dream Quest, High School Dreams: Best Friends Forever, and Chulip.

Apologies for the inconsistent audio quality this episode. We had some technical issues while recording, and Jon had to patch the episode together from multiple backups like some terrible audio Frankenstein. (Happy Halloween, everybody!)

Questions? Comments? Have your own picks for unpolished gems? 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 Chulip by Natsume

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