PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

With the success rate of the new games released drastically low, one can’t help but ask two questions: When releasing a game in 2024, which genre should I choose to make the most of it? To operate with representative groups, we compared games across top-level subgenres.

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Data Mechanics Games Demo 104

Game Refinery

MAY 4, 2023

We’ve been writing about the growth of ‘hybrid’ mobile games – when a title merges two or more genres to create an entirely new gameplay experience – since 2020, but hybrid games have evolved a lot since then, especially when it comes to the game genres that are being merged together.

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Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Mechanics 95

Game Designing

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Lesson 7: Randomness Summary In this lesson, we explore the role of randomness in games, distinguishing between input and output randomness. Lesson 7 Transcript So what I want to talk to you about in this design talk is randomness in games. It’s more interesting and that way the game is more fun to play over and over.

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Sprite Mechanics Game Design Game Designer 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 31, 2023

Unlike the years before, we decided to really leverage our fantastic community of senior games industry folks to present you with trends that will shape our industry during the year. The k-factor, which measures the virality of a game, is at an all-time low. Is it the artwork in itself that is not selling the game? Exit mobile.

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Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Games 127

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 10, 2021

Our 2021 predictions have been sponsored by Facebook Gaming. Facebook Gaming helps developers and publishers to build, grow and monetize their games. Visit Facebook Gaming where you’ll find an incredible amount of insightful, actionable and relevant information along with tips, tools and solutions to help you grow your business.

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Game Industry News

APRIL 6, 2023

Episode eight, “Surrender” ( Surrender (episode) | Memory Alpha | Fandom ) races from plot point to plot point, and while some of the pacing doesn’t quite work, the episode still manages to balance necessary character development with the action. They get on their little cloaked shuttle and board the Titan. I’ll wait.

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Data Racing Code Build 40

Deconstructor of Fun

AUGUST 29, 2021

Full disclosure: both of the authors are decade-long fans of Supercell and their games. While our analysis may to some seem harsh, we assure you that it’s only reflective of the expectation Supercell puts on their games. This week, Supercell soft-launched a new crafting tycoon game called Everdale. Osmium is the heaviest metal.

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Brand Game Development

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

But with November comes Thanksgiving, Christmas/Hannukah, and New Years, so in my family that means the season of family games. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. I am good at Rummikub and I like card games. Did they listen?

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Games Art Game Developer Game Development 130

Brand Game Development

MARCH 18, 2019

You can feel like your voice isn’t heard and that community building is futile. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. If you’re among them, it’s your lucky day! Then choose one to designate as your gathering place.

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Designer Notes

APRIL 2, 2023

I gave an Old World postmortem at GDC 2022, which is available on YouTube: However, I fully scripted the talk ahead of time, so I decided it would be worth taking the time to post the slides online, in three parts to have mercy on your browser. However interesting this was, it’s not a game I could make.

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AI Point and Click Mechanics Scripting 68

Mircosoft Game Dev

JANUARY 15, 2023

It includes major improvements all across the board in features, performance, and usability. The features offered are also a lot more reminiscent of AAA games, such as far more material options and advanced visual effects (including circle DOF , volumetric fog, AMD FSR, etc.). Creating games this way is, as a result, more challenging.

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AAA Game Developer Game Development Development 145

Radiator Blog

MAY 19, 2023

I was surprised Turnfollow was working in this big systemic genre space, since I mostly know them for their very good linear story games Little Party and Wide Ocean Big Jacket. But you can see the "seeds" of this game (ha ha) in their wartime gardening game A Good Gardener so maybe it's not so unexpected. Easy money.

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NPC Cutscenes Animation Animation 59

Game Industry News

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

HERE THERE BE SPOILERS Episode two of season three continues the breakneck pace established in episode one, complete with cliffhanger, but we get some questions answered that, frankly, I thought would take a bit longer. Vadic is also interesting. Were there surprises? I think I may have seen Sisko’s baseball in Sneed’s office.

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Fighting Balance Technology Games 75

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 20, 2019

There are several reasons why Matchington Mansion is on our lips: Firstly, it’s because the game is raking in over $15M in net revenues a month. Secondly, it’s because the game was able to challenge Playrix successfully in their own game. Then he’s going to analyse the studio that made the game. So please, enjoy the post!

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Puzzle Studios Tile Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 27, 2022

Snap presents a very accessible CCG with short intense matches of ~4 minutes which involve a high degree of poker-like mind games and deception. This is a very interesting innovation that competitors should take note of. Among them, it stands out Ben Brode, Second Dinner ’s CEO and previous Game Director of Hearthstone.

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Mobile Mobile Content Mechanics 101

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 31, 2022

An essential data platform for all mobile gaming studios. This is because we don’t want to reduce the actionability of the data with games that succeed massively in what can be described as closed domestic markets. The money you save on platform fees will go directly into further improving and growing your games.

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Cross platform Platformer Puzzle Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 17, 2020

Here are the three things you need to know about ironSource: #1: They’re developing the most robust, data-driven growth engine for mobile games. #2: In this second post we discuss Arcade games, which we see as a genre in the Casual category. The State of Arcade Games While the Arcade genre only accounts for 7.5% Let’s dive in!

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Mechanics Platformer Studios Data 52

Radiator Blog

JUNE 2, 2023

I completed the main campaign in Redfall ( official site, Steam , also on Game Pass), a 4 player co-op open world shooter by Arkane Austin, who's mostly known for detailed single player story-filled action games. In this sense, playing a 75% finished game is more useful than playing a 100% finished game. But not really.

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Studios Co-op Open World Cutscenes 98

Designer Notes

OCTOBER 14, 2021

The game, a historical 4X set in classical antiquity, released on July 1, 2021, and is available for purchase here. I don’t think it’s possible for a 4X game to consistently provide a satisfying, climactic ending; the genre’s strengths come from the vast possibility space, the lack of guardrails, and a commitment to reward smart play fairly.

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AI Simulation Mechanics Mobile Gaming 40

Deconstructor of Fun

DECEMBER 12, 2021

If you like it, you will love Naavik’s monthly Blockchain Games report! Executive Summary Sky Mavis’ mission is far more about spurring economic opportunity through play rather than about building an amazing game. The current game could continue to grow for a while, but its current economic policies are fundamentally unsustainable.

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Mechanics Balance Games Game Design 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 14, 2020

We originally created a taxonomy together with Game Refinery dividing the games market into four different categories: Casual, Mid-Core, Casino and Sports. We pulled the data of top 1000 games from last three years from the one and only App Annie and aligned the data with the categories, genres and sub-genres.

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Puzzle Games Tile Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 21, 2021

This analysis is written by my friend, Buğrahan Göker who focused on 4X games, and Yours Truly. Our 2021 predictions have been sponsored by Facebook Gaming. Facebook Gaming helps developers and publishers to build, grow, and monetize their games. Strategy games also represent nearly a half of all Mid-Core revenues.

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Mobile Mobile Cross platform Puzzle 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 3, 2019

This was the date that the social games giant had acquired a relatively unknown Finnish developer, Small Giant. The reason for this acquisition was the success of Small Giant’s hit game, Empires & Puzzles. Especially the last twelve months the game has been thriving, raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue per day.

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Puzzle Build Feature Balance 52

Filmustage

AUGUST 30, 2022

Filmmaking, however, is an extremely fast-paced industry, so all production processes are naturally automated and accelerated. The principle is very simple: upload your script in.fdx or PDF formats and get a beautifully broken down script in a matter of minutes. Filmustage can be used to plan your project.

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Film Software Scripting Writing 52

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

AAA game franchises are in the middle of a renaissance on mobile. These games have a huge leg up in terms of organic downloads. TiMi’s first major project was a title that their parent company, Tencent, had asked Riot Games to create. billion in 2018, making it the highest-earning mobile game of 2018.

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Mobile Mobile FPS Console 52

Brand Game Development

JULY 22, 2019

Perfect board game pacing is one of the most underrated aspects of board game design. Somewhere between overwhelm and ennui, there lies a middle ground where a game is perfectly paced. A great board game feels challenging and interesting throughout. Need help on your board game?

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Tile Games Playtesting Balance 130

Deconstructor of Fun

MARCH 22, 2021

Early this year the Turkish mobile startup Dream Games has raised $50 million in new funding ($57.5M total funding), despite having only soft-launched its first game, Royal Match. Dream Games was founded by two of Peak’s former Product Directors. Thus a full breakdown of the newly released game is warranted.

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Puzzle Mobile Mobile Mechanics 69

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 10, 2019

This has gone on for decades, with the two groups being influenced by each other, yet struggling to operate their games successfully across this cultural divide. You see, all of us were giant fans of this game and thus we decided to divide and conquer the deconstruction of one of the favourite games of 2019.

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Mechanics Feature Mobile Mobile 52