All Articles
Save Game Systems
November 13th, 2007 Saving should be treated as one of the player’s natural rights, not an earned privilege or a game mechanic around which to make strategic decisions. I compare the save systems of a dozen games, highlighting what's good and what's bad.
Thinking with Doubt: Emptying Your Cup
October 23rd, 2007 Here I examine the only reasonable way I know of to examine our world. This process, to the surprise of many, is based on constant doubt. There is no one so dangerous as a man who is certain of something.
Writing Well, Part 3: Origins of a Writer
September 26th, 2007 Writing is a craft, yes, but so many of our best writers have something that goes beyond craft. They have a certain kind of character that allows them to get at the truth of a story. I can't speak for the best writers, but I'll at least share a bit about my own character and where some of it came from.
Writing Well, Part 2: Clear Thinking, Clear Writing
September 17th, 2007 Clear thinking and clear writing go hand-in-hand. I share some tips from the great writer Orwell and adventures of the great thinker Feynman. I also discuss the dangers of clear thinkers who use vague language to deliberately deceive.
Writing Well, Part 1: Sensibilities
September 14th, 2007 Write as clearly and simply as possible. In this article, I try to help you develop an ear for good writing by showing you what you should cringe at. And remember: omit needless words.
The Trouble With Patents
September 10th, 2007 The patent system is in major trouble, but it wasn't always like this. I examine the origins of the system and compare it to today's flood of new patents and the stifling effect its had on innovation.
Balancing Puzzle Fighter
August 5th, 2007 More than 10 years after Puzzle Fighter's original release, I had the opportunity to rebalance the characters and fix up the infamous "diamond trick." Find out what I changed, what I kept the same, and why. in <b>/home/sirlin/public_html/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/post-image.php</b> on line <b>82</b><br />
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The Power of Pacing
October 7th, 2006 Is it better to save your best content until the end of a game so you have a strong finish, or to make the first few minutes of gameplay as good as they can be, even if it's downhill for the rest of the game?
Difficulty Tuning in Games
December 31st, 2005 Single-player games are all over the map in how they handle difficulty tuning. Some games want very much for you to die, while others want you to actually have fun. I compare the difficulty of 6 different games and explore the choices they made.
Game Balance, Part 2: A Detailed Example
December 2nd, 2003 Combining "balance" and "diversity" is the holy grail of multiplayer game design. The fighting game Guilty Gear XX achieved this in a very premeditated way, and serves as an example of how to design balance into multiplayer games in general.
World/Player Interaction
December 2nd, 2003 Some games allow the player to interact with the game-world in rich, varied ways. Other games don't, but make up for it by emphasizing goal-oriented missions. Both approaches can work...but all roads seem to lead to highly tedious games these days.
Playing to Win, Part 3: Not Playing to Win
July 4th, 2003 I know I talk an awful lot about playing to win, but now that I think I've gotten most of that message across, I feel it's time to let you in on the secret. Playing "for fun" can help you win, too.
Playing to Win, Part 2: Mailbag
April 24th, 2003 I got a lot of mail about the first Play to Win article, almost all of it positive, but I'd like to answer the critics! I respond to several "But I can't play to win because of X" complaints.
Game Balance, Part 1
December 1st, 2001 Balancing a competitive multiplayer game is a lot less forgiving than balancing a single player game. Despite the designer's best efforts, the gaming community has the upper hand when it comes to uncovering imbalances.
Rules of the Game: Rule Design
May 2nd, 2001 The central task of game design is rule design. Rules, not programming or art, are the soul of a game. This article looks at the rule structure of several games, including one game that literally is only a collection of rules.
The Art of War, Part 3: Deception
November 11th, 2000 This article applies The Art of War specifically to fighting games, and some of the concepts used by the very best players.
The Art of War, Part 4: Divide & Conquer
November 5th, 2000 Here The Art of War is applied to Starcraft. The teachings of Sun Tzu are compared to those of top Starcraft Player Zileas.
The Art of War, Part 2: The Sheathed Sword Revisited
November 5th, 2000 The very same lessons from Part 1 of this series can be applied to software development. The real trick of development is to defeat problems before they grow threatening, not after they become out-of-hand and visible to all.
The Art of War, Part 1: The Sheathed Sword
November 5th, 2000 An ancient Chinese book reveals the secrets of all kinds of battle. This first article covers the concept of defeating the enemy before the messy parts of the fight even begin.
Playing to Win, Part 0: Why Bother?
November 5th, 2000 This short article explains why this site about game design includes a section devoted to playing competitive games at a high level.
Playing to Win Example: Survivor
October 26th, 2000 Richard Hatch won CBS's Survivor by playing to win.
Playing to Win, Part 1
October 26th, 2000 Playing to Win is the only way to really improve, yet most people are too bound up by imaginary rules to even try.
Violence in Video Games
October 26th, 2000 Games have become the scapegoat for many of society's problems. In fact, violent video games are beneficial to teenage boys. If you don't believe listen to MIT's Henry Jenkins.
Episodic Games
October 26th, 2000 The mass market may be more ready for small, weekly doses of fun than the game industry.
Rethinking Story Games
October 26th, 2000 The formula of adventure games may have killed the genre, but not the story game itself. Sirlin identifies the problem and proposes some new types of story based games.
Rock, Paper, and Scissors in Strategy Games
October 10th, 2000 It's perfectly ok to use the rock, paper, scissors paradigm in a strategy game, as long as you know...the secret.
Yomi Layer 3: Knowing the Mind of the Opponent
October 10th, 2000 Yomi means "knowing the mind of the opponent." Players think on a higher level than one might expect, yet to support this, designers need to design fewer "counters to counters" than one might expect.
An Introduction to Game Design Courtesy of Walt Disney
October 10th, 2000 Video game design is similar to the design of many other types of experiences, including DisneyLand.
Suspense
October 10th, 2000 Suspense creates ripe, full moments out of otherwise hollow, empty ones. The payoff for incorporating suspense far exceeds the cost.
Hiding Secrets in Platform Games
October 10th, 2000 Curiously related to suspense, secrets in platform games (or any game) can add much more value to a game than the cost of their implementation. The Rosetta Stone of secrets is Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES).
Nonlinear Exploration and Multiple Paths
October 10th, 2000 Allowing the player to explore worlds and missions without imposing a set order is generally good, yet it can lead to particularly bad cases of "getting stuck."
Pacing
October 10th, 2000 Pacing should usually follow a sine wave of rising and falling action.
