On Having Game Design Rationales in the Text
Let’s talk today about having game design rationales embedded in game texts. Some of the work I do as a technical writer is communications writing, like emails to customers about upcoming changes or actions they need to take. And some of you cringe at the thought because you know how low a success rate those
Working on Your Game for Years is Okay
I saw a really good comment about my piece on ambition being the enemy of good last week, from someone who saw my post as disheartening because they’ve been working on their game for years, and that perhaps they should just give up because of what I said. That’s a very fair criticism of my
Your Game Will Suck & That’s Okay
A friend with impostor syndrome and a rather successful Kickstarter asked me a question a few weeks ago: What if my game sucks? I didn’t give them a soft bunny answer: It will. To unpack that in its various dimensions: Your game will suck to you. It’ll suck to you in ways where you feel you need
Ambition is the Enemy of Good & Done
You may have heard adages like “perfect is the enemy of good” and “perfect is the enemy of done.” But where does the drive to be “perfect” come from? I don’t think those sayings are particularly useful unless you think about the motivations behind them. Enter ambition, stage left. — Neophyte game designers often have ambition
The Unknown in Tim Horton’s
Shortly before Gen Con, I decided to ransom some blog posts. I’ve been feeling the urge to blog lately, and you know what they say: don’t do anything
Why I’m Cool with Phones During Games
A lot of people hate on phones at the game table, and to some degree I get that. But every time I hear someone talk about how they
