Numerical progression is the heart of much of gaming. #gamedesign #gaming

Players want things outside of the formal systems you design. Even if you can’t directly control those things, they affect your players’ perception of your game, so they affect your game design. #gamedesign #gaming

Players want their heartstrings tugged. Find a way to tug them. #gamedesign #gaming

The long-term goal of most games is to win, which in a single-player game often means to get to the end of the last level. But winning can mean many things - think of new ways to define winning. #gamedesign #gaming

Simple games give players simple obvious goals. Beyond that, there are a lot of different ways to structure goals to make goals interesting. #gamedesign #gaming

What do you want right now? Maybe make a game about that. #gamedesign #gaming

I’m trying to generalize here, which is dangerous when it comes to puzzles. There are lots of puzzles that don’t fit this. But this fits a good number, so I’m going to try to generalize. #gamedesign #gaming

I debated using this verb family or using gather but I consider gather more of a goal than a verb in most uses - it’s a way to get you to move or build in certain ways, not an action you do on its own. #gamedesign #gaming

Buy verbs are easy to add even when they’re not part of the core loop. #gamedesign #gaming

I’m a big fan of the stacking things on top of other things genre of games. #gamedesign #gaming

Trying out a new format this week. Wish me luck! #gamedesign #gaming

I’d rather have them compare me to artists or professors than CEOs. #gaming #gamedesign

Experts can have fun doing a challenge quickly. New players can’t have fun with a really hard challenge they can’t even see. #gaming #gamedesign

These are not meant to be master level puzzles, except maybe the Sunday crossword. #gaming #gamedesign

It’s hard to make people want things, but it’s easy to hook into things they already want. #gaming #gamedesign

I’m only showing one in the video today, but I’m grouping all the Linkedin Games together for the analysis this week. #gaming #gamedesign

Converting multiplayer games into single-players games isn’t just crafting puzzles from the rule set, but it can be a solid start. #gaming #gamedesign #roblox

For games with simple rules and simple content, progression is often mastery. #gaming #gamedesign #roblox

How players rate games gets complicated, so take my analysis here with a grain of salt. #gaming #gamedesign #roblox

Changing goals does have a cost, but it’s paid in player confusion and UI. #gaming #gamedesign #roblox

This is kind of like a real-time strategy game with one type of unit and all the building is done for you. #gaming #gamedesign #roblox

Understand your tolerance for free-to-play monetization and stick to your standards. #gaming #gamedesign

Maintaining the flow of content to keep a liveops game running at maximum efficiency is costly. #gaming #gamedesign

Even just target selection alone is interesting. There might be a nice casual space with a slightly simpler combat system and no player interaction other than target selection. #gaming #gamedesign

If you’re going to give me a lot of things I can collect, give me a reason to collect a lot of them. #gaming #gamedesign

I consider the core loop the thing that players do the most. But there can be tension between what it seems like players are supposed to do and what they actually do. #gaming #gamedesign

Let’s make converting cinematic tropes into interactive tropes the hot new gaming trend of 2026. Can someone do a good Scooby Doo hallway sequence game? #gaming #gamedesign

If James Bond is like a AAA console game that is always showing off top-tier new content to keep you engaged, old Star Trek or Dr Who is more of a roguelike - shuffle around the same easy to generate content but in interesting ways. #gaming #gamedesign

I always thought it odd that D&D gives XP for success and none for failure when reality does it the other way. #gaming #gamedesign

Explosions make everything better. Even tutorials. #gaming #gamedesign