Design Diary Rock, Paper, Failure The Appeal of 18-Card Games I've been really interested in building an 18-card game ever since I learned about "wallet games," which I most notably associate with Button Shy Games. Constraints often breed creativity, as limited space requires unique solutions. You can't simply add
Roll Flush Design Diary #5: Writing Rules and a Touch of Art I found my push-your-luck, dice-rolling, poker game to be in relatively good shape. The game flowed well, was pretty easy to teach, and, most importantly, we had fun playing it. Now, I needed to write the rules. I originally thought writing rules would be easy. I don't know
Design Design Diary #4: Refining In my last design diary, I talked about the invaluable insights from playtesting—how feedback helped me rethink parts of the game, refine its mechanics, and let go of ideas that weren’t quite working. Since then, I’ve made some changes, and I wanted to share the thought process
Roll Flush Design Diary #3: Playtesting and Feedback Refining a game comes with exciting ups and downs. One change can ruin the game, while another can turn a mediocre experience into something special. It’s important not to get discouraged by setbacks and to let the triumphs motivate you to keep going.
Photo Log Photo Log #1 Get up close and personal with games that I enjoy in the Photo Log. Explore the art and graphic design that make games special.
Design Diary Design Diary #2: Replacing Dollars with Points While far from perfect, the core mechanic—pushing our luck to roll for better cards—was so much fun that it was clear there was a real game here.
Play Log #1: Cascadia Play Log is where I reflect on recent games I've played. Not a review, more like a reflection. Most of my experience playing games is 2 player with my lovely partner, and so my experience will always be colored by this format unless otherwise noted. Welcome to the
Design Diary Design Diary #1: Poker Without Betting Here's my first foray into documenting a design I have been working on. I want this to be an exercise in exploring all parts of a game, starting with the raw idea, which will never be the final version and often will be immensely unfun. Ideas are always
Design What’s in a Name? Picking a Name for a Business (Or Blog) Is Hard Let me tell you about a room with eight people arguing over whether the word "save" or "commit" is better.
