Category Archives: Game Dev

Getting the best out of your playtests

At Gen Con 50, I spoke on a panel with Jake Given, Carly McGinnis, and Matt Fantastic that focused on different aspects of playtesting. So, here’s a post about data tracking when playtesting your games, which is only a portion of the panel, but is that part that I felt most knowledgeable about. This appliesContinue reading “Getting the best out of your playtests”

Game Design Grads Look Back on Group Internship Experience at Lone Shark Games

[Article] My alma mater features myself and my fellow Lone Shark interns in an article on their website! This internship was especially exciting for us because we’re all graduates of the Bachelor of Arts in Game Design program at DigiPen and we got to work with some of the best tabletop designers in the industry!

Level design & the grocery store

I recently had a conversation with my therapist about how I shop. Frequently I have found shopping to be an overwhelming experience, whether it be because of all the other people or simply because I am trying to find an item and I can’t. I expressed to her that when I get overwhelmed, like manyContinue reading “Level design & the grocery store”

WIDOW’S WALK BRINGS THE BETRAYAL BACK TO THE HOUSE

[Playthrough video] I co-wrote and designed the bonus haunt Walk Among the Stars with Richard Malena for Game the Game to play on their stream. The stream features my coworker Elisa Teague. “Aliens are real and they’re coming to destroy the Earth. You might have a way to stop them, but someone on your team decidedContinue reading “WIDOW’S WALK BRINGS THE BETRAYAL BACK TO THE HOUSE”

Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego (1997) review

Platform: Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, Power Macintosh Genre: Educational, Point-and-Click Adventure Developer: Brøderbund Designers and Writers: Jim Everson, Matt Fishbach, and Todd Kerpelman Overview “Chronoskimmer activated. History awaits!”- Carmen Sandiego Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? is an educational point-and-click adventure game for children ages 9 and up. Carmen Sandiego and her V.I.L.E. henchmen break into ACMEContinue reading “Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego (1997) review”

Blackwall’s lie – Dragon Age: Inquisition

SPOILERS AHEAD! I recently finished the companion side-quest, Revelations, which involves finding out that your Grey Warden companion is actually an ex-Orlesian captain in Empress Celene’s army named Thom Rainier. These are my general impressions based on my first playthrough (and just finishing the quest, I have not yet finished DA:I at this point… somehow)Continue reading “Blackwall’s lie – Dragon Age: Inquisition”

Story mechanics in Assassin’s Creed

Like most stealth games, the Assassin’s Creed franchise is a prime example of the mechanical connection to the game’s subject, whether that be the characters, the story, or both. I have played the original Assassin’s Creed with Altair and through ⅔’s on Ezio’s storyline in AC: 2, AC: Brotherhood, and AC: Revelations. While I findContinue reading “Story mechanics in Assassin’s Creed”

Portal: Cake, deception, & companionship

For the past few weeks, between school and midterms, I attempted to play Portal in preparation for a short essay I would need to write about companionship in games for my “Interactive Narrative and Character Creation” class at DigiPen Institute of Technology. I tried my best to play through the game, however, by test chamberContinue reading “Portal: Cake, deception, & companionship”