This is a thread for you guys to post any interesting articles you find on game design (Magic or otherwise). I'd love to read more good game design stuff, but don't really know what's out there.
Required Reading
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
- Start date
CML
Contributor
http://www.bluff.com/magazine/you-are-bad-at-poker-yes-you-8644/ -- Phil Galfond on cognitive bias in games, just brilliant
For regular MTG columns I always read Brian DeMars and Brian Braun-Duin on SCG.
For big books about games (robust or otherwise) I like Michael Lewis, Dangerous Liaisons, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. The Luzhin Defense is OK but Nabokov is usually better
For regular MTG columns I always read Brian DeMars and Brian Braun-Duin on SCG.
For big books about games (robust or otherwise) I like Michael Lewis, Dangerous Liaisons, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. The Luzhin Defense is OK but Nabokov is usually better
He doesn't update anymore, but Jonathan Degann's Journal of Boardgame Design is one of the most insightful looks at boardgame design that I've found. In particular, check out his Game Theory 101 articles, linked in the sidebar. They set a framework for discussion of great game design.
Thanks Benny, that sounds perfect! Will take a look.
VibeBox
Contributor
good thread
yale game theory course is free
http://www.youtube.com/course?list=EC6EF60E1027E1A10B
and magic writer william spaniel has a series of videos on game theory as well as some other relevant stuff
http://www.youtube.com/user/JimBobJenkins/videos?view=1&flow=grid
i don't always agree with some of the "rational actors" dogma but these are good resources for those looking to learn.
yale game theory course is free
http://www.youtube.com/course?list=EC6EF60E1027E1A10B
and magic writer william spaniel has a series of videos on game theory as well as some other relevant stuff
http://www.youtube.com/user/JimBobJenkins/videos?view=1&flow=grid
i don't always agree with some of the "rational actors" dogma but these are good resources for those looking to learn.
VibeBox
Contributor
also, richard garfield did a podcast called Three Donkeys where they mostly talk about games and game design.
http://www.threedonkeys.com/blog/archives/category/podcasts
http://www.threedonkeys.com/blog/archives/category/podcasts
I recommend all the stuff on www.sirlin.net. He has an interesting stance as a competitive fighting game player who shows a great understanding of the difference between playing a game and designing a game, and the interplay between the two. He also loves mind games, which is a turn-off to some.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Garfield on luck in games:
This thread is why I love this community s2s2
Don't think I have many articles or material that are specifically great concerning cube design, but I will unload some of my favorites on game design here. Most will be focused on digital game design, but I guess you can filter the content and get some insights taht are applicable to cube design.
David Sirlin
http://www.sirlin.net/
One of my favourite game design writers. Playing to Win is a must read for anyone that has ever played anything (http://www.sirlin.net/ptw/), though pretty much every single article regarding strategy is great and might be very useful for any cube designers around here.
Daniel Cook
http://www.lostgarden.com
His most interesting article probably being The Chemistry of Game Design (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1524/the_chemistry_of_game_design.php)
Mike Birkhead
http://www.flark.net/
Probably my favourite game design writer right now (probably tied with David Sirlin), though there is a lot of stuff that doesn't fit in cube design (like combat mechanics and so forth), but decided to share anyway. He does have a lot of great articles on systems design that might give some insights to cube builders.
Project Horseshoe
http://www.projecthorseshoe.com/reports/
There is always something interesting coming out of project horseshoe. No idea if anything will be relevant for cube designers, though, but Multiplayer Design Atoms might be useful. (http://www.projecthorseshoe.com/ph08/ph08r5.htm, pretty much a development of Daniel Cook's design atoms)
Also, this might be a very useful article for understanding player behaviour (by Patrick Chapin) and is a must-read for cube designers: http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/fundamentals/12201_Information_Cascades_in_Magic.html
Don't think I have many articles or material that are specifically great concerning cube design, but I will unload some of my favorites on game design here. Most will be focused on digital game design, but I guess you can filter the content and get some insights taht are applicable to cube design.
David Sirlin
http://www.sirlin.net/
One of my favourite game design writers. Playing to Win is a must read for anyone that has ever played anything (http://www.sirlin.net/ptw/), though pretty much every single article regarding strategy is great and might be very useful for any cube designers around here.
Daniel Cook
http://www.lostgarden.com
His most interesting article probably being The Chemistry of Game Design (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1524/the_chemistry_of_game_design.php)
Mike Birkhead
http://www.flark.net/
Probably my favourite game design writer right now (probably tied with David Sirlin), though there is a lot of stuff that doesn't fit in cube design (like combat mechanics and so forth), but decided to share anyway. He does have a lot of great articles on systems design that might give some insights to cube builders.
Project Horseshoe
http://www.projecthorseshoe.com/reports/
There is always something interesting coming out of project horseshoe. No idea if anything will be relevant for cube designers, though, but Multiplayer Design Atoms might be useful. (http://www.projecthorseshoe.com/ph08/ph08r5.htm, pretty much a development of Daniel Cook's design atoms)
Also, this might be a very useful article for understanding player behaviour (by Patrick Chapin) and is a must-read for cube designers: http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/fundamentals/12201_Information_Cascades_in_Magic.html
I have always found Sirlin to be a bit of a blowhard. Yes, he has a lot of valuable experience in balancing competitive 2-player games, but he makes grand pronouncements about things in which he has way too little experience, too. When he gets called out in his forums, Sirlin tends to dismiss those points and reassert his (often wrong) viewpoint.
Yeah, but even then you can filter this kind of stuff out. It's not like everyone always makes good assumptions anyway. That's why I believe you need some repertoire of references so you have some idea on which points might be valid or not.
Also, never trust forum people. Never. Not even Sirlin. Not even me. Not even yourself!
Ands since I am posting here, I reminded of another video that might be interesting to you guys:
It's Soren Johnson (his blog: http://www.designer-notes.com/) and Dorian Newcomb talking about the making of Civilization IV, their prototyping stage and stuff (I guess it's from the collector's edition of CivIV). It is an 8-part video and I can't exactly remember if the content is actually directly useful for cube design, but if you enjoy making of videos of games, you might enjoy this.