What makes a game difficult, and what attracts different players? A look at how to ensure your game has mass appeal, and what separates casual and hardcore...

Game development tools have evolved. Even young kids can design and code games, with a little help from a grown-up. Discover the benefits of learning how to...

Skill themes are collections of levels which require the same player skills to beat them. They are the highest meaningful level of content in the Super Mario...

Now that we know about the existence of the evolution and expansion challenges in Nintendo games, how can we use these concepts to design coherent,...

Portal, Borderlands, Magicka... these games are comedies. Deus Ex is not a comedy, but can become one through the player's interactions; Left 4 Dead has...

Minimalism is much more than an art style. In this article, we examine several examples of minimalist design in popular games, and discuss ways to implement...

Fill your levels using a systematic method that was originally developed by Nintendo. Learn how Super Mario World introduced a system of specific techniques...

As level designers, we often want to direct players to their goals, build and release tension, or show off the artwork and tech in the game. My favourite...

Unreal Tournament, Blood Bowl, and Rocket League belong to three different genres (FPS, round-based tactics, and driving), but all share the same theme:...

We've already looked at two sets of underused genres, from both classic and modern eras. It turns out there are even more!

If we want to play a game, we first need to learn the rules. But reading tutorials is boring... so how can we make sure we don't scare off the player? In...

The possibility of death in game design is often a necessary evil to give the game some stakes, but the player's death is usually not fun in itself—unless...