Founded by James Coltrain, a historian and expert on game design at the University of Connecticut, Historiated Games describes itself as a "Historian founded studio making story-driven games." As E.L. Meszaros reports for CBR, the company's first game, "Blackhaven," immerses players in the realistic-albeit fictional-landscape of Blackhaven Hall Historical Society, a ruined colonial estate restored as a museum.
Read MoreJesse Schell, in his seminal book, 'The Art of Game Design', talks about many types of game balance. Here's a summary of the key types, refocused with a view to learning games, that you can use to review your own learning game designs.
Read MoreMy kids survived lockdown by living online, playing Minecraft. In the real world, I provide for all of my kids' needs, but in Minecraft they have to work for everything they create. The kids get really upset when someone steals their stuff.
Read MoreA newish wave of sophisticated, adult board games have made exploitation part of their game mechanics. "Puerto Rico" is still considered to be one of the greatest board games of all time. "Puerto Rico" is part of a wave of modern, strategy-heavy board games that earn high praise while asking players to reenact human history's grimmest episodes.
Read MoreHow difficult games should be, and how accessible they should be, is a perennial topic, and whenever it flares up it's a sign to log off Twitter for a few days.
Read MoreComplicated learning games sometimes involve the use of in-game currencies, inventories, and NPCs. Getting learners to understand how to play those games can involve a great deal of setup, explanation, and guidance, especially if your primary audience does not consist of hardcore gamers.
Read MoreWhile some families consider any game beneficial and don't necessarily seek out games specifically designed and marketed as "Educational" games, other families might pick a game designed to cover a certain skill or topic that needs reinforcing or include games as a part of a larger unit of study.
Read MoreEmergent narratives urge players to "Play to find out what happens."5 Though the contexts, characters, and situations encountered in a role-playing scenario may suggest a particular ending, that result is not a foregone conclusion.
Read MoreWhile the skillset is largely the same, the richness of the learning which comes from games and play, comes not only from the experience the learners have while playing, but also from the broader, and deeper ways in which the experiences can be mined for insights, by a skilled facilitator.
Read MoreEven in heavily unionized Hollywood, there are ominous trends: While IATSE is an international union, major studio productions now routinely escape high labor costs in Hollywood by filming abroad. And the movie industry hasn't avoided the problems of the game industry entirely.
Read MoreThe power of our gaming memories is perhaps most clearly seen as nostalgia: in the rise of retro-style games and actual retro games, in the numerous remakes and remasters, and in game design elements like pixel graphics and a return to simplicity. Some research has explored how games affect our memory, and I don't just mean those "Memory" or "Brain" games, which often aren't very compelling and might not help your memory either.
Read MorePopular video games have the potential to provide low-cost, easy access, effective and stigma-free support for some mental health issues, researchers at Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, have found.
Read MoreUS, Israel, Bahrain, UAE youth to combine in development exchange program to create video games with a social message. The US State Department is set to help 2,700 students in the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain engage in a virtual student exchange program centered on the development and creation of social impact video games.
Read MoreMy wife, Jill, and her phone are like Siamese twins - attached all the time. Jill, who has Huntington's disease, stares into her phone for hours when we are at home, playing puzzle, tile, and problem-solving games such as Tile Master, Candy Crush Saga, Tile Connect, Perfect Time, and Get It Right!
Read MoreMultiplayer gaming has seen a huge rise in popularity over the last couple of decades. More and more players are turning their attention to online games, and this has lead to a huge surge in options like this hitting the market. This is great for gamers, and it means that there is almost certainly a game or two on the market that all of your friends will like. Let’s take a look at some of the steps that you will need to take when you want to prepare a games session for you and your friends, giving everyone the chance to take part.
Read MoreOnline games are obviously popular; an increasing number of people are opting to play them, whether it's for fun, to win, or for another reason such as better dexterity. Online games have been one of the most popular pastimes in recent years, and it's easy to understand why. Here are a few of the reasons.
Read MoreLearning games, often associated with the idea of "Serious play", can refer to either games intentionally designed for learning or entertainment games used to teach. Scholars are constantly studying new ways to employ games and discovering how those learning games affect the learning experience.
Read MoreI work in a very small niche: I create and research games intended to be played in reality - stories and games designed to come to life around the players, using the real world as the backdrop. The games I design entice players through clever rabbit holes found in the real world that start them searching for answers - maybe something written on a billboard, seen at a rally or printed on a flier.
Read MoreOne of Carnegie's rules says that if you want to be interesting, you should be interested in others. Being interested in your audience can help you find ideas that resonate with them. An interest in psychology can find better ways to keep that audience engaged.
Read MoreJack Ford Morgan and Callan Davis who are the co-owners of Half Monster Games. Mr Ford Morgan said just as the variety and complexity of games had changed, so too had attitudes. "A lot of the stigma that existed ... about nerds and geeks and that kind of culture is really evaporating with all the focus that is put on diversity and inclusion," he said.
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