I don't always speak up about all 'woke' topics. I will always let my games do the talking for me.

But let's talk about teaching thru games, cuz I feel lots of good intent is lost. And we can blame gamers for not being receptive or we can try to understand what doesn't work 🧵 I did over a decade in educational game design, gamification and yes games for behavioral change ( the evil shit advertising and insurers like)

It's where I get my distaste for the evils of manipulation for profit from in mobile games and GaaS. But it's given me experience.

My first response holy fucking shit!.gamedeveloper.com/business/unity… How are they even going to count that revenue? I gave a way thousand and upon thousands of keys to charity last year. I'm gonna pay for that in decades.
How about the recoup and costs that come with releasing a game?

Bad #gamedev take. Doing lots of small games is great for learning core skills needed, but it won't always battle harden you for the marketplace.

The marketplace for small games was vibrant when that advice was born. An alternate take on advising failed devs🧵 So on the development and user testing side .. very much yes. releasing small games will teach you what you can do and what people want to play.

But the modern marketplace will eat you up and spit you out, time after time.

my AI artist/indie survival strategy:

-focus on stories, worlds that evolve (IP!!).
-create a non reproducible artistic signature.
-tell stories that hold value when tied to you.
-make sure your name/brand is known.

TLDR Make sure you are in a place others cannot copy. Evolving IP: why do fantasy authors write series of many books long? Cuz you stick with it. Even if book 3 sucks you keep buying cuz you are invested.

Why did Disney buy star wars , cuz you are invested.

This works for every size audience.

So here's a #gamedesign thread too take you out of your "mechanical mind". That design place where player experience is only measured in player experience or stickiness, and it's easy to get lost in.

A thread on game design and artistic intent.

1/15 Take a look at your game and see if you can find a central moral or intellectual premise. Don't worry this isn't about making games to change the real world (cool side effect tho)

It's about finding an emotional or intellectual theme or pillar that isn't player centric.

2/15

Recent events has made me again contemplate one of the worst examples of our industries negative influence.

That our industry has throughout its history relied on cartoonish depictions of Nazis as villains, stripped of their true monstrosity, and given a veneer of cool. 1/7 When I grew up there were rules prohibiting the depiction of Nazis in toys. The fear being it would desensitise young people to the power of and horror of that imagery.

That fear has proven to be well founded, especially now our memories are generations away. 2/7