The hottest Game design Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Art & Illustration Topics

Eye of the Temple

Have You Played? • 19 implied HN points • 16 May 23
🕹 Technology Game design
  1. Eye of the Temple is a VR adventure game with innovative movement mechanics, keeping players within a limited physical space while exploring virtually.
  2. The game lacks fun due to limited story and gameplay elements, such as repetitive puzzles and lack of engaging characters.
  3. VR game design challenges include balancing immersion, comfort, and gameplay mechanics to create an enjoyable experience for players.

#4 - Build a powerful pagination

A Good Interface • 19 implied HN points • 06 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Game design
  1. Learn how to create effective pagination between inventory and leaderboard.
  2. Understand the benefits of pagination like facilitating navigation and saving data in a game.
  3. Improve pagination with tips like correct placement, next/prev buttons, visible states/actions, and offer more control with filters and sorts.

Under the microscope: Elevator Action Returns

Rings of Saturn • 29 implied HN points • 04 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Game design
  1. In Elevator Action Returns, you play as a special agent trying to stop terrorists. You use elevators to move around levels, which makes for some fun gameplay.
  2. A new code was discovered for unlocking extra options in the game like game speed and player lives. This adds more variety to how you can play.
  3. There's a hidden debug mode that lets you control the game in unique ways, but it can cause some glitches. A patch has been created to fix these issues and enhance the experience.

Under the microscope: Iron Man / X-O Manowar in Heavy Metal

Rings of Saturn • 14 implied HN points • 11 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Game design
  1. The game Iron Man / X-O Manowar for Saturn has cheat codes that can give players cool powers, like invincibility and unlimited weapons.
  2. There are special sequences you can enter when the game is paused to unlock fun features, like showing the development team photo or making Iron Man tiny.
  3. Players can also access a cheat menu that lets them skip levels and change their character, making the game more exciting.

How People Experience Things

Load-bearing Tomato • 1 implied HN point • 04 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Game design
  1. Understanding how people think can really help in designing better games. When we grasp players' experiences and emotions, we can create features they will understand and enjoy.
  2. A state machine model can show us how players react based on their past experiences and knowledge. This way, we can predict what they'll do in different situations.
  3. It's important to consider different players' backgrounds when designing games. New players and seasoned players might respond very differently to the same game mechanics.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Unified Core Mechanics

Homo Ludens • 0 implied HN points • 03 Mar 24
🎭️ Culture Game design
  1. Early editions of Dungeons & Dragons had non-unified core mechanics with different dice. This made the game confusing for some players.
  2. The third and 3.5 editions of Dungeons & Dragons introduced unified core mechanics centered around the d20 die, simplifying gameplay and making it more appealing to new and returning players.
  3. Unified mechanics, now commonly expected in tabletop games, streamline gameplay, remove complicated rules, and make the overall experience more accessible.

#7 - How to keep your interface consistent

A Good Interface • 0 implied HN points • 19 Oct 23
🪑 Design Game design
  1. Consistent design improves user experience by reducing cognitive load and enhancing accessibility
  2. Reusing design elements like colors, spacing, and typography can save time during design and development
  3. Design consistency is essential for establishing industry standards, reducing learning curves, and improving user engagement

Making Games, Writing Papers

Homo Ludens • 0 implied HN points • 03 Mar 24
🚌 Education Game design
  1. A well-designed game should be playable immediately without instructions, leading to better engagement.
  2. Teaching composition through game design using iterative processes can greatly enhance student understanding and application of concepts.
  3. Engaging students in creating their own games based on design principles helps them practice essential skills like critical thinking, communication, and revision.

Social Game Design: Party Edition

Load-bearing Tomato • 0 implied HN points • 21 May 24
🎭️ Culture Game design
  1. Creating social games can help different groups of people interact and have fun together. It's great to mix friends from various circles and see them bond.
  2. Keeping game rules simple is key, especially for parties. If it's easy to learn, everyone can join in without feeling lost or confused.
  3. Feedback is important after the event. It helps you understand what worked and what could be better for next time, like having more snacks or being mindful of people's comfort levels.