Today I have an interview with Civilization V designer, Jon Shafer. Jon’s an experienced 4X strategy game player and creator, and I wanted to talk to him about the design issues these kinds of games tend to face. Here’s a few subjects we talk about: Diplomacy systems Lack of dynamics in the late (and often … Continue reading "Jon Shafer on pushing the 4X genre forward"
Read MoreAuthor: Keith Burgun
Game designer, author
Designing Strategy: Rushdown, Economy, and Defense
Hey everyone! Today I have a good-old-fashioned formalist-ish game design article. It’s been a little while since I’ve really done one of those, unless it was attached to Push the Lane. This article is also a little bit different than a lot of my other work because I usually talk about rulesets: what the actual … Continue reading "Designing Strategy: Rushdown, Economy, and Defense"
Read MorePush the Lane: Loot in a Strategy Game?
Since Push the Lane entered this latest phase back in mid-2017 (basically after the failed Kickstarter version, which was much more puzzle-game-like), it has become much more videogamey. By that, I mean, it has focused a lot more on fighting, monsters, items, special abilities, moving around a big map and such. I have been thinking … Continue reading "Push the Lane: Loot in a Strategy Game?"
Read MoreThe 3DO: The birth of my cynicism
Behind every super logical sounding argument or theory, there is always some kind of emotional charge. This is especially true in media studies and criticism, I think. That’s not to say, however, that the argument or theories are wrong, or coming from a dishonest place. We’re all people and we all have stories that are … Continue reading "The 3DO: The birth of my cynicism"
Read MoreArt is People Too
In this episode, I struggle with, and mostly reject, a lot of the formalist ideas I previously held about art. Art – whether it’s games, music, movies, or anything else – is largely about connecting with other people. When you like something, it’s largely because of a lot of subconscious processes that are largely informed … Continue reading "Art is People Too"
Read MoreSingle Player Competition: Strategy Games You Can Live In (my Indiecade ’17 Talk)
Hi everyone! As you may know, I did a talk at Indiecade ’17 last month. It went really well, so I thought I’d piece together a lot of that talk into a podcast episode to share with you guys. It’s about the special problem of avoiding toxicity, violence, and hostile feelings in strategy games, and … Continue reading "Single Player Competition: Strategy Games You Can Live In (my Indiecade ’17 Talk)"
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