Deconstructor of Fun

MAY 20, 2020

A bold move for Supercell, going against giants that continue to rule the casual puzzle space. Their attempt with Spooky Pop likely informed some of the good decisions that led to HDP: balancing known wins and innovation, testing a recognizable and previously loved IP and following best practices from top casual games. Puzzle Pass.

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Puzzle Mechanics Content Data 52

Brand Game Development

JULY 1, 2019

Once you craft the basic concepts of your game and find the right mechanics to express them , you have to set rules. These elements combine to create the central puzzle of each turn in Tasty Humans. In the end, I tried to strike a balance between having mostly positional scoring effects but including universal effects.

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Tile Games Mechanics Build 130

Deconstructor of Fun

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Do you have a concept in mind?” Will you make another puzzle game?”. Some of the puzzle games I’ve worked on. Puzzles are one of the biggest market categories and it continues to grow each year. Example : Imagine I have a solid concept for a “Match-3 with a social metagame”. These are valid questions.

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Studios Build Puzzle Concepts 52

Deconstructor of Fun

AUGUST 29, 2021

Nevertheless, Everdale is not a placement puzzle like a typical city-building game. This game is likely straightforward to balance, but it’s not very creative for the players to play. We’d be equally terrified to balance a more player-friendly game. The lack of specialization and trading breaks the illusion of a simulation game.

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Simulation Build Balance Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 13, 2021

This is in line with the current rise in popularity of games with the equally satisfying Merge mechanic in the puzzle genre. That is why a large portion of ads shown in Hypercasual games are showing other Hypercasual games instead of e.g. puzzle games. On the other hand, Hypercasual game UA is targeting very broadly already.

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Mechanics Puzzle Advertising Studios 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 3, 2020

This article is the last and, the most important piece of the “scaling” puzzle focusing on the nothing less than the game that is being promoted and the teams that are promoting it. The key to success is balancing IPM and LTV, and making sure that the gains on the IPM side are higher than the losses on the LTV side of the equation.

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Games Mobile Mobile Art 52

Deconstructor of Fun

DECEMBER 13, 2022

Charles Lee (Art Lead) , veteran art director and concept artist with past experience at Blizzard , Sony Pictures Animation , and who until very recently worked in the Visual Development of Netflix hit Arcane (damn!). This is a well-balanced team in terms of disciplines, covering software, design, and art.

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Studios Mobile Mobile Console 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 24, 2023

A cold calculating trader would only care about the outcome, but human beings seem to love watching the outcome unfold - a puzzling topic for economists. For example, a balance patch to Skyweavers that changes the power (and thus price) of different cards will shake up the market considerably. The reveal itself can be engrossing.

Games 52

Games Point and Click Asset Balance 52

Grid Sage Games

JULY 17, 2022

Of course this change comes with significant balance repercussions, which we’ll cover when we get to discussing that topic further below. While some players enjoy puzzling out creative ways to get ahead, at the extreme end it eventually devolves into optimal tedium which is overall harmful to the experience.

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Beta Content Balance Mechanics 52

Radiator Blog

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

none of Dishonored's morality system and I think this is good, the "stealth puzzle = humane cage free assassination" philosophy has aged poorly imo 69% less stealth. and I think this balance tuning is intentional. Very streamlined, much faster, low stakes, and often just setting up the inevitable ensuing gunfight.

Fighting 52

Fighting NPC Puzzle AI 52

Game Refinery

OCTOBER 26, 2023

Most innovative battle passes in mobile games For those less familiar with the concept of a battle pass, this is a season-based monetization mechanic in which players can obtain rewards by progressing through different thresholds. Battle pass feature popularity trend in US iOS mobile games 2018-2023 (source: GameRefinery Platform).

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Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Co-op 82

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 17, 2022

As a consequence, autochess has remained as a niche concept that hinted at a strong potential but that nobody has been able to find a way to turn into a profitable product ready for mass adoption (at least in the West). The concept of a seasonal content reset it’s a risky but high reward opportunity.

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Content Mechanics Point and Click Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

In the second battle (see second and third screenshot above) they introduce about 5 new concepts to the game, all of which are kind of new for the genre, and the screen gets so chaotic and confusing that it’s hard to follow. Just in that third screenshot alone there are so many concepts which feel new and confusing. This is great!

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Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming Concepts 113

Deconstructor of Fun

MARCH 22, 2021

Especially since the game seeks to dominate the puzzle genre, which is the largest and arguably the most competitive genre in mobile games. Early revenue per download data shows that it outperforms other Classic Match-3 titles and is as strong as full Puzzle & Decorate games, suggesting that players like the direction. It made $5.1

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Puzzle Mobile Mobile Mechanics 69

Game Design Advice

JUNE 5, 2016

A key concept in addressing this question is the idea of the skill chain , as articulated in Characteristics of Games , by Elias et al. Trivially easy games can’t support long skill-chains, and neither can all-or-nothing puzzles, no matter how large and difficult they might be. Evidence of depth – the skill chain.

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Feature Terrain Baking Games 40

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

In the second battle (see second and third screenshot above) they introduce about 5 new concepts to the game, all of which are kind of new for the genre, and the screen gets so chaotic and confusing that it’s hard to follow. Just in that third screenshot alone there are so many concepts which feel new and confusing. This is great!

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming Concepts 52

Brand Game Development

JULY 15, 2019

In my Tasty Humans Designer Diary posts so far, I have focused on the puzzle aspect of the game. The design process really started with the puzzle. The design process really started with the puzzle. Not to mention it organically balances the game by attaching a cost to tiles that are strictly better.

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Tile Mechanics Games Puzzle 130

Radiator Blog

JUNE 30, 2022

A dense randomized mini-chess puzzle where everything matters. For balance purposes, I limit the number of voyeurs in the maze, otherwise it can enter a deadlock where there's only voyeurs but no one for them to watch. Voyeurs work differently, they have sex by watching a couple have sex. L of semen for each one.

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Code Educational Education Prototyping 52