Games That Clicked: History, Harkonnens, Heartbreak

I've been shaped by so many games. I wanted to make something like a "Top 5 Games that meant something to me" post, but I quickly realized that it was hard to boil things down that much. Instead, I wanted to do something more casual, something brisker, and just chat about some of the games that stuck with me over the years. Every game I've played has left me with something, no matter how small, but these are the games that captured me, games that connected with me, even for just a fleeting moment.

Creating Emotion in Games, Part 3 -- NPCs and Dialogue

If you're new to this series, start on the first post and go from there!

We wrapped up our introduction to this book in the last post, looking at a few miscellaneous things that the author has to say about building narratives in games, and also exploring his idea of the "deep" and "interesting" axes. While these are largely focused around presentation within the game (not surprising, given the author's background in screenwriting), I do plan on drawing this back to actual mechanical design and game structure as much as possible, in a way that builds on the book. So with that said, let's dive into the first Emotioneering™ techniques! These ones focus on non-playable characters, "NPCs".

Creating Emotion in Games, Part 2 -- Finishing the Intro

Last time in Part 1, I covered the first part of the introduction to Creating Emotion in Games, which sets up a sales pitch for "why invest in games storytelling?", introduces the author's concept of Emotioneering™, and explains some of the difficulties that professional writers from other media have when transitioning to games writing. Today, we're going to wrap up that introduction with a few miscellaneous sections that make their way in, completing the pitch and setting the stage for the actual techniques to come.

Loops, Journeys, and Single-Player Gaming

So, I've been thinking lately about "loops" in gaming. Not in terms of the "core loop" of a game, but in another sense. I've been looking at my gameplay habits, thinking about what it means to "complete" a game, thinking about my large backlog of games that I own but haven't finished, and thinking about where the bulk of my playtime goes. I pour a lot of hours into multiplayer games. A lot of hours. Hundreds of hours. It's got me thinking about how I spend my time, and about what I get out of that time. So, I've been thinking lately about "loops" in gaming.