Designer Notes

AUGUST 2, 2021

The game, a historical 4X set in classical antiquity, released on July 1, 2021, and is available for purchase here. One challenge that has haunted all Civilization games since the beginning is Infinite City Sleaze (ICS). The following is an excerpt from the Designer Notes for Old World.

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Grumpy Gamer

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

I'm not going to say much about the game other than what I'm looking for in an artist. Think of it as a puzzle. I'm looking for a great 2D pixel tile artist. I'm looking for someone that can create a very distinct art style and can help set the look and feel for the game. A list of games you've worked on.

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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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Deconstructor of Fun

OCTOBER 23, 2023

This game, which combines Match-3 core with merge progression originally launched globally in the second half of 2020. The game looked promising, scaling quickly towards $2M a month in revenue - a promising number for a smallish Finnish studio. Editors note: The case of Merge Garden is super interesting.

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Brand Game Development

AUGUST 5, 2019

It’s a puzzle-solving, tile placement board game for 1-4 players where you play as a fantasy monster who’s hungry for villagers. We could not be happier with how the campaign turned out, and the game is available for pre-order now ! Need help on your board game? Tasty Humans Had Good Product-Market Fit.

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Deconstructor of Fun

OCTOBER 2, 2023

It’s hard to keep secrets in the gaming industry. Once players show interest in something you've created, many game developers worldwide quickly become "inspired" by your game. It's not necessarily due to the exceptional quality of existing games or the lack of potential for improvement within the genre.

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Brand Game Development

JUNE 15, 2020

A couple of months ago, I asked the readers of this blog to send in answers to the question “ what confuses you most about board game development ?” ” I got a lot of responses, and one of them was about how much to spend on board game advertising. Need help on your board game? Basics of Board Game Advertising.

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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. Top image: Merge Mansion.

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Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

This analysis is written by Taras Koshelev (Lead Game Designer at My.Games Venture Capital) who focused on game mechanics and loops and Michail Katkoff (Founder of Savage Game Studios) who covered the market and marketability. Playrix released Puzzle Breakers into soft-launch in late 2019. Puzzle RPGs on Mobile.

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Brand Game Development

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

This is a holiday shopper’s guide to all things Board Games. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Hobby Board Games. Description from Board Game Geek.

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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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Brand Game Development

JUNE 25, 2019

Pattern building board games are really popular among the hobby board gaming crowd. Board Game Geek cites Azul , Sagrada , A Feast for Odin , and Quadropolis as pattern building board games. These titles earned – and keep – respect in the hobby gaming community. Need help on your board game?

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Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

In the latest episode of the DoF Podcast, Mishka reconnects with Rina Onur Sirinoglu, CEO of Spyke Games, to talk about her exciting new mobile gaming venture, which recently secured a $55 million seed round. Rina co-founded Peak Games, which has become a game-changer in the Turkish gaming scene.

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Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

Tasty Humans is the latest, and in my opinion, the greatest creation of Pangea Games. It’s a tile-placement, puzzle-solving board game for 1-4 players about villagers attacking monsters. They were the creative force behind the game, and really, the soul of it. Need help on your board game?

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Deconstructor of Fun

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Christmas 2022 was made very special for some as Moon Active announced the acquisition of the casual puzzle game Zen Match for as much as $150M. It is hard to say if this acquisition of a single game hints at a future deal where Moon Active acquires the game’s developer, similar to Zynga's acquisition of Peak.

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Designer Notes

MARCH 31, 2023

Here are the games that I’ve worked on. Spoiler alert: Civilization 3 and 4 are going to come up a lot in the presentation… I also do a podcast where I interview game designers about why they make games, so check it out if you have time for 4-hour interviews. So, why should I go back to make a historical, tile-based 4X game?

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Brand Game Development

JULY 8, 2019

Of all the mechanics in the board game world, variable player powers remain a fan favorite. Games with this mechanic range from Gloomhaven to Terraforming Mars to 7 Wonders. Part of their popularity comes from the ease with which they add variety to games. Need help on your board game? So how do we implement them?

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Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

Azul has taken the board game world by storm. Like Sagrada , it’s a gorgeous and approachable puzzle game with emergent complexity that becomes ever more apparent with more plays. It’s also, somehow, always trending on social media and Board Game Geek. Need help on your board game?

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Deconstructor of Fun

OCTOBER 27, 2020

Playrix is one of the powerhouses in the puzzle genre thanks to Gardenscapes and Homescapes’ current success. And while those two titles dominate the top charts, Playrix road to the top started a long time ago with a non-assuming little game know as Township. The game was launched in 2011 as a freemium social game first as Google+ (!)

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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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Deconstructor of Fun

MAY 4, 2020

Supercell is one of the rare companies that doesn’t try to beat the competition; rather, it tries to beat the high score set by its own prior games. To date, Supercell has created multiple genre-defining games and generated billions in revenues -- all with little more than 300 employees (!). Our short answer is no.

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Brand Game Development

AUGUST 26, 2019

Self-publishing a board game is a long, drawn-out process. Some of this goes back to the process of creating your game, getting it manufactured, and raising funds. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. There is no perfect product.

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Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 17, 2022

Xsolla has dedicated tools that will help you create your own online commerce platform, improve your performance marketing and discoverability, and expand your game business on mobile and PC. Clash Mini is one of the three Clash games Supercell announced in April of 2021. As expected from Supercell, Clash Quest is a polished game.

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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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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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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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Designer Notes

DECEMBER 10, 2023

If so, do bots have any role in this scene, either as part of the game or for training/analysis? Generally speaking, these communities are trying to make a solitary game more social, even if the games played are technically still single-player. Is it very different from the single-player game vs bots?

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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. A dense randomized mini-chess puzzle where everything matters.

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