Game Developer Deep Dives are an ongoing series with the goal of shedding light on specific design, art, or technical features within a video game in order to show how seemingly simple, fundamental design decisions aren’t really that simple at all. Earlier installments cover topics such as how indie developer Mike Sennott cultivated random elements …
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Case Studies
Pursuing the “Aha!” moment with deductive reasoning game The Case of the Golden Idol
The Case of the Golden Idol sees players trying to solve twelve murder cases that span forty years in the 18th century. You’re free to explore these scenes and examine clues at will, and you’ll need to use real deductive reasoning to figure out the names of the killers, how they did it, and why. The …
Postmortem: Gregory Kogos’ Playdate puzzle platformer Omaze
Author: by Gregory Kogos Game: OmazeDeveloper: Gregory KogosRelease Date: 16/05/2022Platforms: PlaydateNumber of Developers: 1 How it started My background is creating alt.ctrl custom hardware games. The most successful one is RotoRing — a circular puzzle platformer played on two LED Rings with a rotating knob and a button that runs on Arduino. To help provide a better understanding of the …
Turning relationship memories into mysterious puzzles with Mind Diver
This interview is part of our Road to the IGF series. The IGF (Independent Games Festival) aims to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize independent game developers advancing the medium. Every year, Game Developer sits down with the finalists for the IGF ahead of GDC to explore the themes, design decisions, and tools …
Postmortem: Bringing an IP back to life with horror survival game Last Year
Game Developer Deep Dives are an ongoing series with the goal of shedding light on specific design, art, or technical features within a video game in order to show how seemingly simple, fundamental design decisions aren’t really that simple at all. Earlier installments cover topics such as implementing crossplay functionality in We Were Here Forever, …
Mastering minimalism and layering complexity with strategy game Thronefall
Thronefall, which comes out in Early Access on August 2, aims to simplify strategy games by offering a minimalist experience in building and defending your kingdom. Game Developer spoke with Jonas Tyroller and Paul Schnepf of Grizzly Games to discuss how their own dwindling gaming time inspired them to simplify such a complex genre, the importance …
Deep Dive: How custom tools made the 2D photo mode of A Highland Song sing
Game Developer Deep Dives are an ongoing series with the goal of shedding light on specific design, art, or technical features within a video game in order to show how seemingly simple, fundamental design decisions aren’t really that simple at all. Earlier installments cover topics such as the starkly stylish art direction of Bloodless, how …
Deep Dive: Creating seamless dialogue for narrative poker game Sunshine Shuffle
Game Developer Deep Dives are an ongoing series with the goal of shedding light on specific design, art, or technical features within a video game in order to show how seemingly simple, fundamental design decisions aren’t really that simple at all. Earlier installments cover topics such as how solo developed Devon Wiersma optimized the spraypainted …
Sharing the stories of Ukrainian citizens amid war in What’s up in a Kharkiv bomb shelter
What’s up in a Kharkiv bomb shelter is a snapshot of life within a bomb shelter during the bombing of Ukraine, letting players hear the sounds of music interspersed with explosions as they talk to the other people within the shelter, hearing stories inspired by real people and friends who shared in this experience. Game …
Deep Dive: Narrative mapping and simultaneous storytelling in Wayward Strand
Game Developer Deep Dives are an ongoing series with the goal of shedding light on specific design, art, or technical features within a video game in order to show how seemingly simple, fundamental design decisions aren’t really that simple at all. Earlier installments cover topics such as the technical design of impossible spaces in the …