AWS Games

JULY 26, 2022

Session-based multiplayer games are a popular form of online game, as they provide players with a quick, engaging experience that they can jump into at any time. However, building a scalable and reliable session-based online multiplayer game is not easy, since there are many components that need to be developed.

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Build Console Code Games 64

Game Analytics

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

It’s about allowing players to lose themselves in more than just a game, but a new world. You have to build VR experiences the right way to make this happen. This goal is always top-of-mind for Schell Games. In this interview, we spoke to Schell Games’ Vice President of Product, Charlie Amis, to learn their story.

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Dev Playtesting Fantasy Render 91

Grid Sage Games

DECEMBER 22, 2023

In previous years I’ve opened the review with a collage of dev images of varying themes and content, but approaching the end of this year we have one major theme that stands out, and that I’ll be writing more about below, so let’s hear it for the interface mockups! Numbers go up.

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Beta Alpha Mechanics Build 105

Brand Game Development

MAY 1, 2017

One of the most jarring experiences for new game developers is the process of getting their game reviewed. Drama aside, it truly is difficult at first because you have to identify reviewers, send prototypes, make sure your game is ready enough, cross your fingers, and hope they like it. Need help on your board game?

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Games Playtesting Prototyping Dev 130

Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

When I was a neophyte game developer, I found an excellent article by Wizards of the Coast, creators of Magic: the Gathering , called Ten Things Every Game Needs. No matter what type of game you’re making, these 10 elements are critical to making a good game. Need help on your board game? A clear objective.

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Game Design Game Designer Tile Games 130

Brand Game Development

DECEMBER 3, 2018

It’s no secret that board game publishers like to reduce risks. Most publishers have a system in place to help them filter marketable game ideas from unmarketable game ideas. Yet the process, so heavy on rejection, has left many game designers heartbroken. Need help on your board game?

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Retail Games Game Design Game Designer 130

Brand Game Development

NOVEMBER 28, 2016

“Theme-first or mechanics-first” might be the most asked “big question” in the board game community. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Theme and mechanics are inseparable parts of board games as a whole. It’s a bit of silly question.

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Mechanics Playtesting Concepts Art 100

Astral Clock Tower Studios

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

We're so happy you're joining us for another epically magical installment of the Kristala Dev Blog! This is the place where we break down all aspects of development for 3D Dark Fantasy ARPG Kristala—an indie game in developed by the wildly talented dev team behind women-owned indie games studio, Astral Clocktower Studios.

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Dev Animation Animation Concepts 52

Grumpy Gamer

NOVEMBER 20, 2020

I use Microsoft's Azure to do cloud compiles of the c++ engine for my new game. For Thimbleweed Park builds were hand compiled which took a lot of time and was very error prone. More than once I made DEBUG builds rather than RELEASE builds or forgot to change some debug setting back. Same with the Mac build.

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Debug Playtesting Build Engine 40

Ask a Game Dev

DECEMBER 20, 2022

Otherwise, the puzzle can cause frustration by making players think that they are missing something when they aren’t, like the nagging feeling one gets when there are leftover parts when building something. It’s important to get playtesters who aren’t familiar with the puzzle to test it, especially noting any frustration points.

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Puzzle Playtesting Advertising Dev 52

Brand Game Development

JUNE 11, 2018

Board game conventions have a certain mystique to them. As such, board game developers often find their own interest in conventions piqued. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. We’re giving away a copy on the Pangea Games Facebook.

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Prototyping Games Localization Demo 130

PreMortem.Games

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

For some, the idea of developing a game alone is daunting. Yet, for indie dev Almar, it offered an escape from the corporate rat race he felt trapped in. Sadly, the reality of the business showed me that the type of games that pay the rent weren’t the type of experiences I wanted to create”, he says.

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Dev Playtesting Art Games 156

Radiator Blog

MARCH 16, 2023

Last month, game industry documentary makers 2 Player Productions debuted a massive 32-part YouTube game dev doc series Double Fine PsychOdyssey , chronicling the development of Psychonauts 2 from its earliest glimmers of pre-production in 2015 to its final release in 2021.

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Art Concepts Dev Studios 59

Game Dev Unchained

JULY 5, 2023

Pham and Max delved deep into the world of indie game development, discussing everything from the inception of the game to its surprising success. He was immediately drawn to the team’s ambition to create a game that could provide the same exhilarating experiences as larger games, but with the capacity to run on low-end hardware.

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Indy Game Developer Game Development Development 105

Brand Game Development

APRIL 20, 2020

A couple of weeks ago, I asked the readers of this blog to send in answers to the question “ what confuses you most about board game development ?” Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. ” And, wow, did you all deliver!

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Playtesting Writing Game Developer Game Development 130

SOVEREIGN MOON

OCTOBER 12, 2020

In this introductory tutorial series, we’ll teach beginners how to use the basic controls within Gogot’s game engine. Godot is a free and open source game development software that game devs can use to make beautiful 2D and 3D games. . A Crash Course Into The Basics of Godot’s Game Engine.

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Asset Editing Scripting Code 52

Rindoku

OCTOBER 7, 2016

Showing your game to strangers for the first time can be a little nerve wracking. After months of toiling in a secluded attic, the last weeks of which were particularly grueling, we finally took Second Hand to its first public showings: first to Dev-Play in Bucharest and shortly thereafter to Clujotronic in our very own Cluj.

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Point and Click Dev Demo Playtesting 52

Game Global

JULY 12, 2021

Do you want to make people laugh at the silly things the game’s troops say if you click on them enough times? If so, you probably want to be a game writer. You should concentrate on building up your writing portfolio and getting regular game writing work. And that’s valid! What technical pitfalls await the unwary?

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Cutscenes Writing Scripting Localization 52

Ask a Game Dev

JANUARY 23, 2024

Whenever I do solo dev work, the feature that always takes the longest and tends to require the most work to get something playable by actual players is the UI. Building out the gameplay features is always a lot of fun, but you can only go so far by fiddling with variables and restarting.

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Dev Build Content Feature 52

Brand Game Development

JANUARY 2, 2018

Board game development is a very individual process. Every single developer has different methods for creating their games. This article is the ninth of a 19-part suite on board game design and development. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators.

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Playtesting Games Advertising Prototyping 130

Brand Game Development

JUNE 20, 2019

In fact, I’ve even said: “ don’t build a board game, build a business.” Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Allow me to introduce you to Jeff Beck of Grandpa Beck’s Games. I’m Jeff Beck.

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Asset Mechanics Games Balance 130

Ask a Game Dev

MAY 26, 2023

The player plays the game, reaches certain pre-determined requirements, and obtains discrete new rewards for doing so. This builds anticipation - leveling up should be something that the player looks forward to doing, and that isn’t possible if leveling up doesn’t actually do anything. Consider Dungeons and Dragons, the tabletop game.

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Build Playtesting Dev Fighting 52

Grid Sage Games

JUNE 30, 2023

When Cogmind’s first commercial version was released in 2015 , I simultaneously opened the brand new Grid Sage Forums as the main gathering point for the community, a way to share stories, provide feedback, and generally discuss the game. But I didn’t want to bloat the size of the game just for that--didn’t seem worth it.

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Feature Content Build Dev 52

Grid Sage Games

MARCH 10, 2022

Cogmind began its life as a 7DRL , and a portion of items designed back when the game was overall a very different environment didn’t evolve at the same pace. Before doing a full item-by-item review, I started with two special categories of unique build-defining items: aliens artifacts and Exiles prototypes. That would be bad :P.

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Balance Mechanics Beta Prototyping 52

Grid Sage Games

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

Although I already demonstrated much of the first new modal UI layout in an earlier forum announcement , I figure I could review those features here in order to provide closure to this series, plus cover some related dev topics as well as the second modal layout. Sample part info as fit into a 45-row UI layout. It was a lot.

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Demo Feature Code Beta 52

PreMortem.Games

AUGUST 15, 2023

At one point I helped King open their Berlin office, interviewing potential members of their initial dev team. The Game Director has asked you to define the backend and infrastructure architecture that will support the game throughout development and live release. Are they building the backend themselves, or using a BaaS?

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Studios Engine Engineering Communications 104

Grid Sage Games

JULY 17, 2022

In the time since Garrisons were added, however, a combination of relevant changes to the game started putting pressure on their original design: Many more full branch maps were added, along with factions, each with their own enticing reasons to visit them compared to the weaker incentives for entering a Garrison.

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Beta Content Balance Mechanics 52

Grid Sage Games

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Cogmind generally has fewer such direct escape options, but teleport mechanics are out there, if an advanced tech not usually available until the late game. First a little relevant dev note: When creating new item-based mechanics, internally I’ll generally use more generic names for effects. Come one, come all!

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Mechanics Concepts Balance Terrain 52

Brand Game Development

JULY 20, 2020

Over the last four articles of Start to Finish: Publish and Sell Your First Board Game , I’ve talked about a lot of things that are more complicated than you’d think. That includes the unexpected depth of the board game industry as well as the surprising variety of responsibilities which a self-publishing developer must handle.

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Prototyping Games Playtesting Dev 130

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? But how do you do that?

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Tile Games Playtesting Balance 130

Brand Game Development

JULY 15, 2019

One of the hallmarks of good board game design is being able to create hard choices. Let’s talk about how you can create hard choices in your board game. He, after all, created the pattern building game that we call Tasty Humans , so it makes for a great case study! Need help on your board game?

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Tile Mechanics Games Puzzle 130

Radiator Blog

JUNE 30, 2022

Zugzwang by Robert Yang This post details my process and intent for making my new release Zugzwang (pronounced in German like /ts'OOK-ts'VAHng/ ) a tactical sex dungeon roguelike cum ritual game. SPOILER ALERT: This post spoils what happens in the game. So this game too is set in a dungeon -- a divine sex maze dungeon.

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Code Educational Education Prototyping 52