One of my favorite game review blogs, Greg Costilkyan’s PlayThisThing, has posted a review of the Armada d6 prototype. Perhaps because tabletop gamers can so analytical, boardgame reviews are notoriously picky. So I’m especially pleased with this extremely positive write-up about the game, which calls it an “incredibly balanced and smooth game — near perfection.”
Thanks, Sebastian Sohn! Now I just need to find a publisher.
Another IndieCade has come and gone. More than any other game event each year, IndieCade feels like a game version of a film festival, chock-full of smart lectures, exhibitions of top independent and experimental games, and a social scene that brings together the indie developer community. Read the rest of this entry »
Skaff Elias, Richard Garfield, and Robert Gutschera are three of the most legendary and influential paper game designers working today. Among other things, they were all instrumental in developing Magic: The Gathering, Richard’s design that singlehandedly created the trading card game genre.
When they asked me to write the foreword for their new book, Characteristics of Games, I was more than flattered. I have read articles, heard lectures, and attended workshops with all three of them. Not to mention that I’ve lost my fair share of tabletop games to them as well. Their ideas and their games have had a profound impact on my work.
Characteristics of Games is an amazing book whose influence will be felt for years to come. It dives deep into the nuts and bolts of game design, where mathematics and logic meet human psychology and design aesthetics. Deliciously analytic, the authors dive in to thorny dilemmas like quantifying luck and social politics. If you are a game designer, game scholar, student, fan, or player of games – on or off the computer – read this book.
As a lead-up to the IndieCade festival of Independent Games in Los Angeles, Robert Brown of Turnstyle News interviewed me about the unusual backstory of Armada d6, a boardgame that was accepted to the festival as a Finalist Nominee. The article, which focuses on the found artifacts on which I based the game, touching the connection between games, divination, and spirituality, was picked up by The Huffington Post. Read the entire article here.
being playful 