Geir Ove Alnes
@geirovealnes.bsky.social
Senior Game Designer @ Ubisoft Singapore;
Formerly @ Mighty Bear / Funcom;
https://geirovealnes.carrd.co/
Game Designers 101-103 (Starter Packs)
https://go.bsky.app/KFBJn7C
https://go.bsky.app/BoEMZY8
https://go.bsky.app/HN7KHXa
Opinions are my own.
Formerly @ Mighty Bear / Funcom;
https://geirovealnes.carrd.co/
Game Designers 101-103 (Starter Packs)
https://go.bsky.app/KFBJn7C
https://go.bsky.app/BoEMZY8
https://go.bsky.app/HN7KHXa
Opinions are my own.
Pinned
Geir Ove Alnes
@geirovealnes.bsky.social
· Jan 29
Re-reintroduction: Hi all! I'm Geir, a Senior Game Designer from Norway currently @ Ubisoft Singapore. Been in the industry since 2008. #gamedesign #gamedev #games
Created 3 Starter Packs with 400+ video game designers to follow - enjoy!
go.bsky.app/HN7KHXa
go.bsky.app/KFBJn7C
go.bsky.app/BoEMZY8
Created 3 Starter Packs with 400+ video game designers to follow - enjoy!
go.bsky.app/HN7KHXa
go.bsky.app/KFBJn7C
go.bsky.app/BoEMZY8
Reposted by Geir Ove Alnes
Here's how we released 200+ games #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiegamedev #gamedesign
p.s. it's my birthday in 2 weeks if you'd like to do something for the soon to be birthday boy nothing would make me happier than sharing this video on what I've been doing with my life so I can help more people ♥️
p.s. it's my birthday in 2 weeks if you'd like to do something for the soon to be birthday boy nothing would make me happier than sharing this video on what I've been doing with my life so I can help more people ♥️
December 3, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Here's how we released 200+ games #gamedev #gamedevelopment #indiegamedev #gamedesign
p.s. it's my birthday in 2 weeks if you'd like to do something for the soon to be birthday boy nothing would make me happier than sharing this video on what I've been doing with my life so I can help more people ♥️
p.s. it's my birthday in 2 weeks if you'd like to do something for the soon to be birthday boy nothing would make me happier than sharing this video on what I've been doing with my life so I can help more people ♥️
Reposted by Geir Ove Alnes
We did something different with the credits for Demonschool. We used this format: name, title, lengthy description of what they did. Often you see credits in games where you don't know what the credited developer was actually responsible for. We wanted to give people proper, actual credit.
November 24, 2025 at 10:23 PM
We did something different with the credits for Demonschool. We used this format: name, title, lengthy description of what they did. Often you see credits in games where you don't know what the credited developer was actually responsible for. We wanted to give people proper, actual credit.
Where Winds Meet looks as good as it plays, though these non-HDR screenshots really don't do it justice...
November 23, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Where Winds Meet looks as good as it plays, though these non-HDR screenshots really don't do it justice...
If you manage to "humanize" yourself to players in ARC Raiders, they are less likely to outright shoot you. They might still overcome their brief flash of empathy and betray you out of greed, though... Thanks for nothing, sLowRaiderXY_69, did our shared experience mean nothing? Was it all a lie? 😢
November 9, 2025 at 9:27 AM
If you manage to "humanize" yourself to players in ARC Raiders, they are less likely to outright shoot you. They might still overcome their brief flash of empathy and betray you out of greed, though... Thanks for nothing, sLowRaiderXY_69, did our shared experience mean nothing? Was it all a lie? 😢
Instructions unclear. Now all my players are upset 🙃
the key to game design is to imagine the target audience for your game and then imagine how you would make them the most upset
October 23, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Instructions unclear. Now all my players are upset 🙃
Went to the bookstore recently, and observed that 99.76% (made up statistics, don't believe everything you read) of all books were completely bent out of shape. Is this how people browse books now? Is the new metric for judging a book to see how well it bends? 🤔
October 21, 2025 at 5:23 AM
Went to the bookstore recently, and observed that 99.76% (made up statistics, don't believe everything you read) of all books were completely bent out of shape. Is this how people browse books now? Is the new metric for judging a book to see how well it bends? 🤔
Reposted by Geir Ove Alnes
🚨🚨🚨
We are live! Welcome to Design Room, a new independent games media site.
• We specialize in oral histories like the Final Fantasy 7 and Street Fighter 2 ones I (@mattleone.bsky.social) did at Polygon
• Our first big story is on Shadow of the Colossus: bit.ly/4hjwz8n
• See more: designroom.site
We are live! Welcome to Design Room, a new independent games media site.
• We specialize in oral histories like the Final Fantasy 7 and Street Fighter 2 ones I (@mattleone.bsky.social) did at Polygon
• Our first big story is on Shadow of the Colossus: bit.ly/4hjwz8n
• See more: designroom.site
Design Room
Video game oral histories
designroom.site
October 14, 2025 at 2:00 PM
🚨🚨🚨
We are live! Welcome to Design Room, a new independent games media site.
• We specialize in oral histories like the Final Fantasy 7 and Street Fighter 2 ones I (@mattleone.bsky.social) did at Polygon
• Our first big story is on Shadow of the Colossus: bit.ly/4hjwz8n
• See more: designroom.site
We are live! Welcome to Design Room, a new independent games media site.
• We specialize in oral histories like the Final Fantasy 7 and Street Fighter 2 ones I (@mattleone.bsky.social) did at Polygon
• Our first big story is on Shadow of the Colossus: bit.ly/4hjwz8n
• See more: designroom.site
Reposted by Geir Ove Alnes
Owlcat Games unveils free educational resource hub for game industry professionals.
www.gamedeveloper.com/business/owl...
www.gamedeveloper.com/business/owl...
October 15, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Owlcat Games unveils free educational resource hub for game industry professionals.
www.gamedeveloper.com/business/owl...
www.gamedeveloper.com/business/owl...
Reposted by Geir Ove Alnes
Update time for www.startmakinggames.com
A one stop shop for 100% free curated information that answers the question - 'How do I get started in game design?'
As always please share! As a self run passion project for the last 8 years, your help is the only way the site spreads!
#Gamedev #Indiedev
A one stop shop for 100% free curated information that answers the question - 'How do I get started in game design?'
As always please share! As a self run passion project for the last 8 years, your help is the only way the site spreads!
#Gamedev #Indiedev
October 14, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Update time for www.startmakinggames.com
A one stop shop for 100% free curated information that answers the question - 'How do I get started in game design?'
As always please share! As a self run passion project for the last 8 years, your help is the only way the site spreads!
#Gamedev #Indiedev
A one stop shop for 100% free curated information that answers the question - 'How do I get started in game design?'
As always please share! As a self run passion project for the last 8 years, your help is the only way the site spreads!
#Gamedev #Indiedev
Reposted by Geir Ove Alnes
Hi Bluesky! Polaris Game Design Retreat is an annual event where game designers tackle tough problems together, then write reports on their discoveries. If you're looking for our reports, start here: polarisgamedesign.com/reports/
Reports
REPORTS 2022 2023 2023 Understanding Systems Suspense Why is it fun to learn the rules of a videogame? Not just to play the game, but to learn it; to travel from the state of unknowing to knowing, to ...
polarisgamedesign.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Hi Bluesky! Polaris Game Design Retreat is an annual event where game designers tackle tough problems together, then write reports on their discoveries. If you're looking for our reports, start here: polarisgamedesign.com/reports/
As a Norwegian game designer living and working abroad, I'm a bit of a rare unicorn, but whenever I go back home, I do game design the same way as other Norwegian designers: Uphill both ways, in the snow, wearing skiis, while chased across frozen fjords by polar bears and herds of meese. #gamedesign
September 26, 2025 at 2:04 AM
As a Norwegian game designer living and working abroad, I'm a bit of a rare unicorn, but whenever I go back home, I do game design the same way as other Norwegian designers: Uphill both ways, in the snow, wearing skiis, while chased across frozen fjords by polar bears and herds of meese. #gamedesign
The best way to get a lot of game design is to start with 0 game design and then subtract 1 to cause an underflow, giving you the maximum possible amount of game design. This assumes the game design is unsigned, of course. #bigbrain #gamedesign
a man is standing in front of a white board with math equations on it .
Alt: Man counts on his fingers as math equations float in the air around him
media.tenor.com
September 23, 2025 at 1:22 PM
The best way to get a lot of game design is to start with 0 game design and then subtract 1 to cause an underflow, giving you the maximum possible amount of game design. This assumes the game design is unsigned, of course. #bigbrain #gamedesign
Reposted by Geir Ove Alnes
Kind Games: Designing for Prosocial Multiplayer is a game design report exploring "multiplayer games designed from the start with systems that deliberately promote prosocial behaviour".
Come for the charts, stay for the design patterns to use in your own games: polarisgamedesign.com/2022/kind-ga...
Come for the charts, stay for the design patterns to use in your own games: polarisgamedesign.com/2022/kind-ga...
September 10, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Kind Games: Designing for Prosocial Multiplayer is a game design report exploring "multiplayer games designed from the start with systems that deliberately promote prosocial behaviour".
Come for the charts, stay for the design patterns to use in your own games: polarisgamedesign.com/2022/kind-ga...
Come for the charts, stay for the design patterns to use in your own games: polarisgamedesign.com/2022/kind-ga...
Reposted by Geir Ove Alnes
Ok, so
I don’t think I know what other game designers mean when they say “ludologist” as a school/style of game design thought.
I know the dictionary definition, and the etymology, but not it’s meaning as a specific design aesthetic
Does… anyone else know?
I don’t think I know what other game designers mean when they say “ludologist” as a school/style of game design thought.
I know the dictionary definition, and the etymology, but not it’s meaning as a specific design aesthetic
Does… anyone else know?
August 29, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Ok, so
I don’t think I know what other game designers mean when they say “ludologist” as a school/style of game design thought.
I know the dictionary definition, and the etymology, but not it’s meaning as a specific design aesthetic
Does… anyone else know?
I don’t think I know what other game designers mean when they say “ludologist” as a school/style of game design thought.
I know the dictionary definition, and the etymology, but not it’s meaning as a specific design aesthetic
Does… anyone else know?
Ruin a book by adding “Tom Clancy’s” to the title
Tom Clancy’s The Little Mermaid
Tom Clancy’s The Little Mermaid
Tom Clancy's The Gashlycrumb Tinies
Ruin a book by adding “Tom Clancy’s” to the title
Tom Clancy’s What’s behind the green door?
Tom Clancy’s What’s behind the green door?
August 28, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Ruin a book by adding “Tom Clancy’s” to the title
Tom Clancy’s The Little Mermaid
Tom Clancy’s The Little Mermaid
Home-made waffles on a late Sunday afternoon ❤️
August 24, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Home-made waffles on a late Sunday afternoon ❤️
"I don't care what anyone says, I like that movie."
August 23, 2025 at 12:04 PM
"I don't care what anyone says, I like that movie."
#mildlyinteresting This is a bottle of Urge that shipped from Norway to Singapore for my birthday. To my knowledge, not available anywhere in Asia, maybe outside online shops with worldwide shipping. Tastes much better than the (discontinued?) "Surge" drink it preceded🙃Definitely a buy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
August 18, 2025 at 7:19 AM
#mildlyinteresting This is a bottle of Urge that shipped from Norway to Singapore for my birthday. To my knowledge, not available anywhere in Asia, maybe outside online shops with worldwide shipping. Tastes much better than the (discontinued?) "Surge" drink it preceded🙃Definitely a buy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
😥
BREAKING: Xbox is canceling Contraband, announced in 2021 from Avalanche Studios (Just Cause), after four years of radio silence, sources tell Bloomberg News. This news arrives weeks after a mass layoff in which Xbox canceled several other big titles.
August 7, 2025 at 5:12 PM
😥
"The best part about back integration is when you get to back integrate your back integrated changes from the current branch _to_ the current branch, because a copy-up took place immediately after your initial back integration, rendering said back integration null and void."
- Marcus Aurelius, maybe
- Marcus Aurelius, maybe
August 4, 2025 at 8:18 AM
"The best part about back integration is when you get to back integrate your back integrated changes from the current branch _to_ the current branch, because a copy-up took place immediately after your initial back integration, rendering said back integration null and void."
- Marcus Aurelius, maybe
- Marcus Aurelius, maybe
Reposted by Geir Ove Alnes
The site has had it's quarterly update.
As always, the site is a FREE resource for those looking for how to take some first steps into making games.
Shares appreciated. This is purely a passion project for me so the only marketing it gets is from all of you :)
#Gamedev #Indiedev
As always, the site is a FREE resource for those looking for how to take some first steps into making games.
Shares appreciated. This is purely a passion project for me so the only marketing it gets is from all of you :)
#Gamedev #Indiedev
Now that we can pin posts, about time for a permanent reminder of my #gamedev resource.
www.startmakinggames.com
This is a completely FREE resource, aimed at folks wanting to make games for the very first time. So if you know folks asking 'How do I start making games?' this is the link for you!
www.startmakinggames.com
This is a completely FREE resource, aimed at folks wanting to make games for the very first time. So if you know folks asking 'How do I start making games?' this is the link for you!
June 29, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Imo, there's a difference between "designed friction" and "accidental/lazy friction"/friction caused by technical limitations. The former helps shape the experience, the latter takes away from it. Maybe stating the obvious, but some people seem unable (or unwilling) to separate between these.
I feel like the "smoothening" of game design over the past decade or so has changed the way many players interact with the art form for the worse.
Friction often serves a purpose.
If something feels unsatisfying, why? Does that feeling contribute to the meaning of what you're experiencing?
Friction often serves a purpose.
If something feels unsatisfying, why? Does that feeling contribute to the meaning of what you're experiencing?
June 28, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Imo, there's a difference between "designed friction" and "accidental/lazy friction"/friction caused by technical limitations. The former helps shape the experience, the latter takes away from it. Maybe stating the obvious, but some people seem unable (or unwilling) to separate between these.
Weekend! Time to grind down that Steam backlog. I aim to reduce it by a good ~10 to 15% before the weekend is over. No, for real! Just going to get in one quick game of Civ VII first...
June 20, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Weekend! Time to grind down that Steam backlog. I aim to reduce it by a good ~10 to 15% before the weekend is over. No, for real! Just going to get in one quick game of Civ VII first...