Games involve social contracts between the designer and the player(s).

This might work as a Flash game or a console game; it requires multiplayer.
The idea is that it’s an ordinary racing game, say like Burnout, Gran Turismo et al..  Or it could be a simpler top-down game like 4×4 Off Road or even RC Pro-Am way back in the NES days.  There is one player-controlled [...]

Certain games allow players to customize aspects of their character or in-game situation.  Consider Cosmic Encounter; each player has a special power representing their particular alien species.  Classically these powers are randomly selected, in the form of cards dealt out to the players at the beginning of each game.  Of course, some play groups might [...]

I recently had a bit of an insight into game design.  Perhaps it’s something that other people know about, but I’ve never heard it articulated before.  In any case, it’s important enough to me that I’ve started thinking of it as “the Chaoseed Principle”.
First, let’s think about tabletop RPGs.  Specifically, let’s think about the Lumpley [...]

Equipment.  Why do games have it?  Is it to give the fantasy a bit more realism, or at least plausibility?  Is it because all the other games have it?  The truth is that there are solid design reasons to have equipment in your game.  However, it’s possible some developers don’t even know the good reasons, [...]

After writing my previous article on leveraging user-created content, I’ve been thinking about the subject some more.  I had one more insight I felt I should share.  But first let’s back up a bit…
A lot of times in games you work with sets of data.  Data is just information, 1s and 0s, the contents of [...]

I recently picked up Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection in the bargain bin and I’m having fun with it.  I love games where you get to create and develop things, and Zoo Tycoon does its job well.  (It has isometric 2D instead of 3D, which means less processor load, brighter colors and more visibility!)  However, playing [...]

For years now I’ve been interested in games as tools for creative expression.  I like games where you don’t just develop a skill, you create something as you play.  Once you have created some bit of content, it’s possible to reuse and repurpose that content; to leverage it.  There is one obvious game to talk [...]

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that I often think about why people play games.  For a while I’ve been batting around a metaphor that I find useful: Junk food vs. Nutrition.
Some games are simply fun.  They provide some sort of pleasure from manipulating the components or developing skill.  One of my favorite games [...]

Recently I attended Global Game Jam 2009. It was interesting; I don’t have anything too urgent to report, I’ll make a full, thoughtful blog post about it later.  For now I want to talk about something else.
I was thinking about the question, how does an indie game developer make money?  People have tried all sorts [...]