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Katie Chironis

@kchironis

23 Feb

hi, survivor of several game studio layoffs (and reorgs) here! let's talk about some ways you might identify whether layoffs/reorgs are coming for your studio-- and if so, what you can DO about it, so that you are not powerless in this process.

a couple notes up front: first, these signs in and of themselves may not signal a layoff, especially if only one of them is true for your situation. sometimes they're just signs that your studio is in a temporary rough patch. but if most of these boxes are ticked? be watchful.

second: at very large companies, they may be labeled "reorgs." sometimes reorgs aren't actually layoffs and nobody loses their employment status-- but you may lose the position you had and were happy with as you are moved to a new team. this can feel like a confusing loss, too.

Read 26 tweets

Katie Chironis

@kchironis

16 Feb

when discussing game projects with folks, i often see them struggle with the same problem: how do you know what to build first, and in what order? how do you know "how much" game you need for a first playtest?

one answer to this can be a minimum viable product (MVP). 🧵

a MVP is the smallest possible "core loop" of gameplay that feels representative of its final intended direction. this means you strip away any features that aren't absolutely critical to understanding what the basic game experience looks like; you only build the very foundation.

note that i said a MVP is *representative* of the intended final direction. for perspective, on the left is a MVP of a Burger Experience™ and on the right is the full Burger Experience™. left burger is the smallest possible amount of work which validates "burger taste ok."

Read 19 tweets

Katie Chironis

@kchironis

15 Feb

nobody ever told me that baywatch is amazing? saw some reruns were on today and have been glued to the tv. pamela anderson is giving mouth to mouth to a magician who chained himself to the ocean floor. last episode featured beach horse cops. i feel like i am in a fever dream

there have been two extended combination dance/romance scenes so far and both were set to pounding 90s synth i will die for this show

HELP what do you mean david hasselhoff is a singer and his character performs in rock concerts in this show

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Katie Chironis

@kchironis

30 Jan

saturday design dump: today we're gonna talk about "celebration." this is a term designers use when referring to "feedback which reinforces that something a player just did was important," and it's a way to make your game feel ~amazing.~ (thread)

it's a thing i often see missing in games, and it's also a critical part of *teaching* the game to players. if players don't understand when something important happened-- and if they can't evaluate important moments against each other-- it's harder for them to learn how to play!

often as designers we'll look at a system or a feature and say "you know, the feature is good, it's working as intended, but players aren't feeling the magic or don't understand what the system is doing. i think we need more celebration at [moment.]"

so, how do we do that?

Read 24 tweets

Katie Chironis

@kchironis

25 Jan

something i struggle with a lot when watching design talks is understanding which ones are broadly popular/talked about. so, here are 5 mechanics-focused talks i see often-discussed among designers in AAA, to the point where i'm like "don't you dare link that damn talk again":

(worth noting that the speaker pool here is extremely non diverse. please don't take this as an endorsement of the current state of game design as a discipline and talk circuit, i don't get to pick and choose the state of popular AAA design discourse) (yet)

this Path of Exile talk. a lot of game companies have to do live content or post-launch content. if you want to work at a company doing live content, this is one you should watch.

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Katie Chironis

@kchironis

24 Jan

can we talk about how budding designers of marginalized genders are disproportionately encouraged towards narrative design bc other branches of design tend to be actively hostile to them, or are we not ready for that one yet

i realized circa 2018 that i'm not really a narrative designer-- i love doing narrative design, sure, but i'm much happier in systems, gamefeel, and AI. if i could have seen literally anyone who looked like me doing this kind of work i think i would have figured this out faster

i also think narrative is one of the few ways new designers can easily envision themselves having impact on the game's overall direction, bc it's hard to imagine success via any other route if you see no one who looks like you in those roles (e.g. broader design leadership)

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