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Case Studies

A sepia-toned piece of art from the game Rain World: Downpour, depicting a city of dead machinery against a cloudy sky.

Channeling calm and creating new ways to play in Rain World: DownpourChanneling calm and creating new ways to play in Rain World: Downpour

"In the end, you're still just a little creature wandering around in a world that was never made for you."

Apr 13, 2023

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13 Min Read

A piece of key art from the release of Romancelvania.

Put your trope down, flip it, and reverse it: Fulfilling and subverting archetypes in RomancelvaniaPut your trope down, flip it, and reverse it: Fulfilling and subverting archetypes in Romancelvania

byAmanda Gardner

Apr 11, 2023

8 Min Read

A surreal screenshot from the game depicts a strange green moon with a human face against a black and purple smoke background.

Technological limits as a creative strength with surreal '90s AI simulator Strange AeonsTechnological limits as a creative strength with surreal '90s AI simulator Strange Aeons

Apr 6, 2023

8 Min Read

Deep Dive: 5 lessons learned from 10 years of IngressDeep Dive: 5 lessons learned from 10 years of Ingress

byMichael Romero

Apr 4, 2023

21 Min Read

Deep Dive: Curating the audio of Slime Rancher 2's Song of the Sabers update Deep Dive: Curating the audio of Slime Rancher 2's Song of the Sabers update

Mar 29, 2023

8 Min Read

the hero characters encounter a jester character onstage

Deep Dive: How one design decision totally reinvented co-op in Figment 2Deep Dive: How one design decision totally reinvented co-op in Figment 2

byKlaus Pedersen, Niels Højgaard Sørensen

Mar 27, 2023

5 Min Read

a dark-haired character glares at you, their arms crossed

Butterfly Soup 2 and creating games to help your past self

Butterfly Soup 2 and creating games to help your past self

Book Excerpt: Collaborative Worldbuilding for Video Games

Book Excerpt: Collaborative Worldbuilding for Video Games

byKaitlin Tremblay

a person sits with a pulley system in each hand, using it to guide a plane's flight on the screen in front of them

Paper Glider uses a pulley controller to create a feeling of flight

Paper Glider uses a pulley controller to create a feeling of flight

a pillar-lined hallway in a brilliant white city, water pooling at your feet

Neon White and designing for player creativity

Neon White and designing for player creativity

a person walking toward a ship as a snowstorm blows around

The real journeys that informed South of the Circle's vision of Antarctica

The real journeys that informed South of the Circle's vision of Antarctica

A map of generated land, with water and geographical features

How Tarn Adams upgraded and optimized Dwarf Fortress for its official Steam release

How Tarn Adams upgraded and optimized Dwarf Fortress for its official Steam release

a person with a microphone in a recording booth

How We Are OFK draws from the imaginative places that music creates

How We Are OFK draws from the imaginative places that music creates

a person with a bulky cloak around her shoulders with a ship in the background

How Citizen Sleeper was inspired by tabletop RPGs and gig work

How Citizen Sleeper was inspired by tabletop RPGs and gig work

a glass dome being attacked by dark alien creatures

How Dome Keeper focuses on systems that feed into one another

How Dome Keeper focuses on systems that feed into one another

an axe held aloft over a stump controller

Stump'd! has an axe swinging, raccoon flinging controller

Stump'd! has an axe swinging, raccoon flinging controller

a person hunched over, a hand over their mouth as light shines behind their head

Turning relationship memories into mysterious puzzles with Mind Diver

Turning relationship memories into mysterious puzzles with Mind Diver

a house structure in surreal red tones

Roche Limit is a dark, surrealist pixel art game that runs entirely in PowerPoint

Roche Limit is a dark, surrealist pixel art game that runs entirely in PowerPoint

a person pulls on a stick controller that is attached to an electromagnet while a cat plays on a screen

Funny Kitty Stick simulates cat play time with electromagnetic controllers

Funny Kitty Stick simulates cat play time with electromagnetic controllers

a person dressed all in white walks through the snow near an old stone building

Creating eerie investigations through snowy footprints in Gevaudan 1851

Creating eerie investigations through snowy footprints in Gevaudan 1851

a person sitting on a table holding the reigns of a cardboard horse head

Attack of the Bric-a-Brac inspires people to create unique controllers

Attack of the Bric-a-Brac inspires people to create unique controllers

a massive chandelier gives off red light into an empty ballroom

Titanic II: Orchestra for Dying at Sea explores the unknowable shape and feel of the afterlife

Titanic II: Orchestra for Dying at Sea explores the unknowable shape and feel of the afterlife

A dwarf in a cave with a sign that says "you won't get it up the steps"

Deep Dive: The making of Colossal Cave

Deep Dive: The making of Colossal Cave

a person pointing at the corners of their mouth and telling us to remember to smile

How He Fucked the Girl Out of Me takes players through traumatic memories

How He Fucked the Girl Out of Me takes players through traumatic memories

two people balancing on specialized seats to play Unicycle Samurai

Unicycle Samurai jousts with a twisting, turning seat controller

Unicycle Samurai jousts with a twisting, turning seat controller

a red haired woman runs a shop counter, a knight speaking with her

How Potionomics turned price-haggling into a card game

How Potionomics turned price-haggling into a card game

a hand-crafted handheld game system with several crafts and construction paper characters

Creating the look of a child's hand-crafted game in RPG Time: The Legend of Wright

Creating the look of a child's hand-crafted game in RPG Time: The Legend of Wright

Deep Dive: How the atmospheric conditions of space inspired the music of Deliver Us Mars

Deep Dive: How the atmospheric conditions of space inspired the music of Deliver Us Mars

bySander van Zanten

people in monstrous masks stand around a room lit by light coming from a stained glass window

The Case of the Golden Idol used frequent testing to sharpen its mystery-solving

The Case of the Golden Idol used frequent testing to sharpen its mystery-solving

cards with berries, rocks, coins, and villagers lie on a beige table

How Stacklands uses simplicity to create a compelling card-based village builder

How Stacklands uses simplicity to create a compelling card-based village builder

a picture of a spaceship in a dogfight. A shooting controller and a hammer and panel controller are below.

In Cosmic Crew, different co-op controllers keep a starship intact

In Cosmic Crew, different co-op controllers keep a starship intact

a person pushing a shopping cart while someone inside the cart works some pulleys

How tight deadlines led to a fun shopping cart controller in Grocery Trip

How tight deadlines led to a fun shopping cart controller in Grocery Trip

the inside of an office is shown in a window on a computer screen

How Presenter Slides captures serious business stuff and isn't a silly game

How Presenter Slides captures serious business stuff and isn't a silly game

A bird's eye view of a huge settlement with many buildings and structures

Deep Dive: Designing the dynamic irrigation and water systems in Timberborn

Deep Dive: Designing the dynamic irrigation and water systems in Timberborn

byMichal Amielanczyk, Kamil Dawidow

Strange growths on top of buildings at nighttime

How Against the Storm managed to mix city-building and roguelite play

How Against the Storm managed to mix city-building and roguelite play

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