Tag Archives: video games

Broken Age – Act I: Trust Between Puzzle-maker and Puzzle-solver

I played the first act of Broken Age this morning and I want to highlight a well designed puzzle in each character’s chapter. Vella: In the clouds (Meriloft), Vella’s goal is to get back down to the ground, and it becomes obvious that the only way to do this is to make one of theContinue reading “Broken Age – Act I: Trust Between Puzzle-maker and Puzzle-solver”

Games for School

I provide child care for a few families in my area, and recently one of the 5th grade kids was doing homework through a game. He told me it was algebra, and it mostly looked like fractions using sides of a die. It seemed that the goal was to drag a static die to theContinue reading “Games for School”

The Shortest Look at Mechanics and Difficulty of Super Mario 64 (1996, Nintendo 64)

Super Mario 64 is one of the first video games I ever played. I remember the holiday season my brother got a Nintendo 64, along with games like Cruis’n World, GoldenEye 007, and Super Mario 64. I’m pretty sure I played on the system more than he did… The core mechanics of Super Mario 64 areContinue reading “The Shortest Look at Mechanics and Difficulty of Super Mario 64 (1996, Nintendo 64)”

Design Challenge: Dragon Age II Level Design Spec Sheet

I decided to do a level design challenge last month in which I had to modify a level in an existing game and here’s what I came up with. The attached image is how I would present my work to a team! I wanted the bulk of it to be easy to comprehend and beContinue reading “Design Challenge: Dragon Age II Level Design Spec Sheet”

International Holocaust Remembrance Day… and games.

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. As a Jewish person, I’m automatically attached to this and affected by it, directly and indirectly. Antisemites like to use this day to prove that the holocaust didn’t happen and that “even if it did,” it really wasn’tContinue reading “International Holocaust Remembrance Day… and games.”

Krav Maga Teaching Templates

Yeah, I know, another post on teaching. But I love teaching! It not only validates that I know my shit, but it also reminds me of the nuances of a technique. There’s a very specific template when it comes to teaching Krav Maga (at least, from what I learned from Krav Maga Worldwide but you’llContinue reading “Krav Maga Teaching Templates”

Cheat Codes Podcast Episode 148: Light Gnawing

(My favorite thing I’ve done so far) [Listen to the podcast] Game editor at Lone Shark Games Aviva Schecterson helps us try to make “fetch” happen this week as we pick apart the fallout of Nintendo’s decision to discontinue the Miiverse, Acid Wizard Studio’s fight against free game key resellers, and the death of theContinue reading “Cheat Codes Podcast Episode 148: Light Gnawing”

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”

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”