YouTube video by Gameheads

Scene 1: A Beginning (This is an experiment. I ask you to please read this play aloud as you go. Get someone else to read with you if you like, or do lots of funny voices. If you're Deaf, you could try signing it, and get others to sign with you. The point is to have some fun with it and be a little silly.

I'm writing this from a hotel in Barcelona after having a little bit of a breakdown from overstimulation - apparently I don't do well with cities. It's been a good trip, though. I like being out of the US, seeing some of the broader world, and getting to explore other ecosystems This is going to be more of an informal piece, just a "where I'm at" for my own reference as much as anyone else's.

Game: Quantum OdyesseyGenre: Problem-Solving (puzzle with many solutions)Mechanics: in each level: a number of bits (lanes), where one particle is sent down the first lane the player places gates (like logic gates but quantum) on a separate interface (to the side of the lanes), which can switch the lanes, split the particle between them, or change the particle between different colors…

Name: Pineapple on Pizza Genre: ??? Interactive experience ??? Walking simulator ??? I can hardly even call this a game but I thought it was worth analyzing anyway. The stated goal of the game is "to make you taste pineapple on pizza" and the devs were almost successful at that. Mechanics: Walking around. The player moves using WASD, moves the camera using their mouse...

Game Name: Am I Nima? Genre: Visual Novel and Alchemy/Merging Core Mechanics: Read Dialogue, click to continue, merging words, dragging words down to see if they give you dialogue options. (there is a lot of trial-and-error) Game Design Rating: 8/10 Am I Nima is just a demo right now, so everything's a little rough around the edges, but the core mechanic seems very solid.

In therapy I learned about something called the emotional compass. My therapist's idea was that most emotions are related to the four "core" ones: mad, glad, sad, and scared. This is a tool that proved tremendously useful to me. Today, I did a lot of exploring Imagine RIT, where there were many different games on display, tons and tons of interactive exhibits...none of which really compelled me.

Name: Keep Driving Genre: Management RPG Core Mechanics: "Road Events" (Combat, meeting hitchhikers, daydreaming) as you progress along a linear road. Inventory management. Combat is a series of threats in a line, which you can eliminate by dragging attacks that match - perfect matches grant an extra turn. There are a number of meters (energy, gas, durability, and money) which you need to manage - this is most of the game, though it doesn't feel that way.

This week in my game design class, we were required to come up with an alternate game in the same universe, as part of our exploration into the relationship between narrative and games. I've left it in for fun. Name: Darkest Dungeon Genre: Turn-Based RPG Objective: Gather a strong enough cadre of heroes to make it through the darkest dungeon!

Game name: Chinatown Game genre: Negotiation/Property-trading Objective: Have the most money at the end of the game Core mechanics: Trading properties, buildings, and money Design Rating: 10/10 (though my enjoyment was more like 7/10) Chinatown is a very deep game with really simple mechanics. There's several city blocks on the board, each with about 15 or so spaces for tiles in a grid.

Game name: Stew Game genre: Card game, Push-Your-Luck (Again! I'll do something different next week) Objective: Each Round: Have 12 or more points in the pot when you call "Stew." Overall: Get 5 or more VP (by winning rounds) Core mechanic(s): Going around the table, each player draws a card and decides whether to put it in the stew or feed it to one of the vermin (eliminating that vermin for the round).

In every game design class I've ever taken, and every game design book I've ever read, chapter 1 is always devoted to a definition of games. Maybe this is a common thing in media studies - after all, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics does the same for comics. Definitions are important, since they help get the reader and author on the same page.

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — An Oakland nonprofit, Gameheads, is working to increase the number of Black video game developers by guiding low-income students of color into the gaming industry. Ga…

This is the first of many "Game of the Week" posts from my Game Design class. As my prof. grades them, I'll post them here. Maybe I'll do a couple extra ones on the side if I feel like it or if people like em. They're a lot of fun to write. Genre: Push-Your-Luck Core mechanic: Taking plastic rocks out of a randomized bag, and trying to get the gold!

Disclaimer: Nothing here should be taken as absolute fact. Most is taken from a book I read or from Wikipedia. I tried to check my sources, but if you want to use this information in a serious context - double check it! I've gotten interested in the dynamics of classic board games recently. Though games as a medium only exploded recently, we've played them for thousands of years.

This post is a very personal one. That will happen on occasion. I'm going to give it the "personal" tag and hope that those reading find this philosophizing interesting. I have another post in the works on old board games and their history - should have lots of interesting trivia, and be more on the other end of the spectrum from this one.

You're here, for some reason, and your first question is probably: Where am I? Well, you're on my site. Who am I? I'm Rafael Langston Falicov Davis, a game designer, actor, occasional writer, frequent philosopher, armchair psychologist, and college student. I'm agnostic, athiest, Jewish, Buddhist, technologist, nature advocate, and most of all an advocate for happiness and introspection. I'm a commie, an anarchist, a socialist, a democrat, and a centrist when the weather is right.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.