This isn't directly related to any assignment, it's just something I wanted to share with the class.
Over the summer, I was introduced to "game deconstruction nights" at Pandemic Studios. Every week, one member of the team would pick a game and give a presentation on its strengths and weaknesses. There's a lot to be learned about design by paying attention to the details that many players may overlook at first glance, or even how players interact with particular mechanics. Since coming back to Tech, I'm trying to write one game deconstruction every month in the form of a blogpost.
So far, I've written two: 'Splosion Man and FarmVille.
I'm sharing these because I believe one of the easiest ways to become a better designer is to discuss games with fellow developers. What I've written in those posts is highly opinionated and isn't meant to be formulaic or all-encompassing in nature. I just hope that it sparks some curiosity to facilitate discussion of some of the trends we're seeing in modern games. Please share your thoughts if you take the time to read them - your feedback is highly valuable to me for writing more of these in the future!
Comments