A game design blog for people building ambitious PC games
Practical writing on combat, puzzles, level design, game feel, player psychology, and the craft behind games worth studying.
Featured post
14 min read
How a Super Smash Bros. Fighter is Designed
Super Smash Bros. fighters work because each one has a clear theme, sharp tradeoffs, readable animation, and enough faithfulness to honor the character without breaking the roster.
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10 min read
What Makes Good AI?
Good game AI is readable, fair, predictable, and interesting because it is designed around the player experience, not only raw intelligence.
16 min read
What Makes a Good Puzzle?
Good puzzle design starts with firm rules, then turns those rules into a contradiction the player can resolve through a satisfying realization.
9 min read
How Stealth Game Guards See and Hear - School of Stealth Part 1
Stealth guards feel fair when their simulated eyes and ears create the right balance of ambiguity, feedback, tension, and player confidence.
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A running archive of practical game design notes.
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