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Polaris Game Design
@polarisgamedesign.com
730 followers 86 following 98 posts
Solving the toughest problems in game design. Mostly a yearly weekend retreat for professional game designers. https://polarisgamedesign.com/
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polarisgamedesign.com
Polaris Game Design @polarisgamedesign.com · Jan 5
We asked 167 pro game designers what games influenced their work, and aggregated the results into a top-100! I'll thread the list here, but if you wanna cheat, head on over: polarisgamedesign.com/the-polaris-...

Podcast with more nuance: www.gamedeveloper.com/design/are-t...
The Polaris List
Polaris is a non-profit committed to improving and refining the art and craft of game design. In order to get a snapshot of current game design thinking and reference points, we wondered — what do wor...
polarisgamedesign.com
polarisgamedesign.com
If you prefer your game design thoughts podcasts via Spotify, we're also there! Listen and learn at your leisure: open.spotify.com/show/5ewr7SE...
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
February 15, 2026 at 7:57 PM
polarisgamedesign.com
The incredible @rainysector.bsky.social hosted a Polaris Design podcast with some attendees of Polaris 2025 -- have a listen to what some groups were thinking midway through the conference, and how they personally approach their paper topics: www.youtube.com/@PolarisDesi...
Polaris Design
www.youtube.com
February 15, 2026 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
meganbeetle.bsky.social
I really liked this papers breakdown of virtual social interactions and the different needs and risks that should be considered. Great for game designers of course, and super interesting to think about as a community professional and digital anthropologist. polarisgamedesign.com/2025/toolkit...
February 9, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
konstantinosd.bsky.social
A new cohort of my Designing Cities for Video Games game urbanism class will be starting this March.

Will be also doing a live course presentation on February 25: www.eventbrite.com/e/designing-...
konstantinosd.bsky.social Konstantinos Dimopoulos @konstantinosd.bsky.social · Dec 5
My *Designing Cities for Video Games* course for #gamedev professionals returns in 2026, with lessons beginning on March 4.

▶️ Find out more and enroll here: www.d6learning.com/course/gamec...

[use coupon ASOCIALCITY10 on checkout for a further 10% off]
January 31, 2026 at 9:26 AM
polarisgamedesign.com
"Rewriting the Player Contract" suggests 4 framings for managing high trust with your players:
1 - Tiered commitments (core pillars vs possibility spaces)
2 - Trust Reserves (over-deliver small promises)
3 - Provisional language
4 - Protect mysteries

Read more: polarisgamedesign.com/2025/rewriti...
Rewriting the Player Contract: Legibility and Trust in Game Development
Whether you mean to or not, as a game developer, you will find yourself embedded in contracts with your players, of both explicit and implicit varieties.
polarisgamedesign.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
konstantinosd.bsky.social
So very happy to see the physical edition of Ex Novo 2nd ed. doing so well on Indie Press Revolution... www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Ex-Nov...
January 29, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
strangescaffold.bsky.social
It's time to SHORT THAT BABY! 📈

Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator is OUT NOW on Steam!

PLUS even more campaigns and content coming out over the next weeks and months! 💚👽

store.steampowered.com/app/3642000/...
January 29, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
lordravenscraft.bsky.social
"dry bones comes from the Bible"

oh okay yes I am reading every fucking word of this, let's go
Let's first look at one of the most iconic examples of reanimating skeletons in video games: Dry Bones. The undead Koopa Troopa was introduced to the Mario franchise all the way back in 1988's Super Mario Bros. 3 with the ability to reassemble himself after being stomped on. While this does not make Dry Bones the first regenerating skeleton in video game history, he is certainly one of the oldest, and we can learn a lot about the origins of the trope from him. Dry Bones' name and regenerative abilities stem from the very first lore bible: the Bible. As detailed in Ezekiel 37:1-8, a prophecy called Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones reads: The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. (Ezekiel 37:1-8 KJV)
January 27, 2026 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
brunodias.bsky.social
done with "everything is gender". now is the time of "everything is game design"
juliettekayyem.bsky.social Juliette Kayyem @juliettekayyem.bsky.social · 20d
I have begun to think that Minnesota pushback to ICE was unique and a model because it gave people something to do. It wasn’t about just going out in streets for rallying purposes. People had a mission: videos, whistles, information and communication flow to communities. They had something to do.
January 28, 2026 at 12:03 PM
polarisgamedesign.com
In need of a bit of design inspiration today? How about playing some Game Poems? www.gamepoems.com

Including work by @pippinbarr.bsky.social @gregoryaveryweir.bsky.social, curation by @agatawaszkiewicz.bsky.social @jordanmagnuson.bsky.social and more!
January 28, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
polarisgamedesign.com
It's the Polaris 2025 reports! They've come! They're here! It's a bumper crop of five, count'em FIVE papers! We got comedy, we got death, we got cringe, we got trust... something for the whole team.

Piping hot game design knowledge and insight await:
polarisgamedesign.com/reports/
Screenshot of the five 2025 Polaris reports, too small to comfortably read, with image previews of 2 flow charts, a sticky note collection, a game screenshot with text interface, and a geological pattern.
January 21, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
lizardengland.bsky.social
This year's Polaris game design papers are up and our group worked on Mechanical Comedy in Games, as in games where the comedy comes from players performing the jokes. Really pleased with what we learned (and glad I thought to pitch the topic).

polarisgamedesign.com/2025/mechani...
Mechanical Comedy In Games 🤡 😂
A framework for designing mechanical comedy
polarisgamedesign.com
January 22, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
thedovetailor.bsky.social
I contributed to "Rewriting the Player Contract" 👀 Check all the papers out if you've the time. They're very very cool.
polarisgamedesign.com Polaris Game Design @polarisgamedesign.com · 26d
It's the Polaris 2025 reports! They've come! They're here! It's a bumper crop of five, count'em FIVE papers! We got comedy, we got death, we got cringe, we got trust... something for the whole team.

Piping hot game design knowledge and insight await:
polarisgamedesign.com/reports/
Screenshot of the five 2025 Polaris reports, too small to comfortably read, with image previews of 2 flow charts, a sticky note collection, a game screenshot with text interface, and a geological pattern.
January 22, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
tanyaxshort.bsky.social
I worked with the irrepressible @jonremedios.bsky.social @tylermakesgames.bsky.social @rainysector.bsky.social @bravemule.bsky.social to write a paper on why permadeath (and other forms of loss in games) appeals, and what we lose when we try to paper over it with metaprogression. Check it out!
polarisgamedesign.com Polaris Game Design @polarisgamedesign.com · 26d
It's the Polaris 2025 reports! They've come! They're here! It's a bumper crop of five, count'em FIVE papers! We got comedy, we got death, we got cringe, we got trust... something for the whole team.

Piping hot game design knowledge and insight await:
polarisgamedesign.com/reports/
Screenshot of the five 2025 Polaris reports, too small to comfortably read, with image previews of 2 flow charts, a sticky note collection, a game screenshot with text interface, and a geological pattern.
January 22, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
juliaminamata.bsky.social
Hooray! 🎉 This year's ✨@polarisgamedesign.com✨ papers are live! I'm super pumped because I got attend the retreat last year and help write one. 😊 It's about trust and wonder. Check it out here: polarisgamedesign.com/2025/rewriti...
Rewriting the Player Contract: Legibility and Trust in Game Development
Whether you mean to or not, as a game developer, you will find yourself embedded in contracts with your players, of both explicit and implicit varieties.
polarisgamedesign.com
January 21, 2026 at 8:51 PM
polarisgamedesign.com
It's the Polaris 2025 reports! They've come! They're here! It's a bumper crop of five, count'em FIVE papers! We got comedy, we got death, we got cringe, we got trust... something for the whole team.

Piping hot game design knowledge and insight await:
polarisgamedesign.com/reports/
Screenshot of the five 2025 Polaris reports, too small to comfortably read, with image previews of 2 flow charts, a sticky note collection, a game screenshot with text interface, and a geological pattern.
January 21, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
jonremedios.bsky.social
The new reports from @polarisgamedesign.com went up today! I had the pleasure of attending this year and got to work with some pretty nifty people on a pretty nifty paper about loss and pain in video games. Fun stuff!

polarisgamedesign.com/2025/embraci...
Embracing Player Pain: Designing for Permanent Loss
Loss and death are important, some would say essential, parts of the human experience. It's something that we all must, in time, come to accept in our lives. Why is it so hard to accept in our games?
polarisgamedesign.com
January 21, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
kaittremblay.bsky.social
The @polarisgamedesign.com 2025 papers are up now! I had such a blast being a part of the working group on Mechanical Comedy in Games, which is our framework for talking about how players perform jokes as part of the available player verbs, mechanics, and systems
Mechanical Comedy In Games 🤡 😂
A framework for designing mechanical comedy
polarisgamedesign.com
January 21, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
austinwalker.bsky.social
One year ago today, I released the ashcan of REALIS, my first TTRPG. Today, we've got a near-complete draft that's 50,000 words longer than the preview that so many of you checked out, with over 100 new pieces of art.

Thanks to everyone who checked it out. And get ready for the KS later this year.
January 20, 2026 at 10:20 PM
polarisgamedesign.com
Game designer @natloh.bsky.social Nat Loh's top 10 influential games (unranked):

GTA 3
Megaman 2
The Legend of Zelda: BOTW
The Legend of Zelda
Star Control 2
Wolfenstein 3D
Metal Gear Solid
Lode Runner
Civilization
Shadow of the Colossus

Runner-up: "Naruto [...] on Skylander ability ideation."
January 20, 2026 at 1:28 AM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
juliaminamata.bsky.social
Happy Weekend! My tiny Over the Garden Wall adventure game has hit 10k plays on itch.io🎉! It's FREE to play https://juliaminamata.itch.io/otgw -- A nice way to spend a cozy half hour or so indoors. ❄️ There's also a walkthrough, no worries about getting stuck!
The Round-about Orchard: A tiny Over the Garden Wall game by JuliaMinamata
A two-room adventure game that takes about fifteen minutes to play
juliaminamata.itch.io
January 18, 2026 at 8:46 PM
polarisgamedesign.com
Creative Director & Designer Michael Austin's 10 most influential games (unranked):

Adventure
Super Mario Brothers
Legend of Zelda
Oblivion
Counter-Strike
Assassin's Creed
Stardew Valley
Slay the Spire
Civilization
Satisfactory
January 18, 2026 at 1:31 AM
Reposted by Polaris Game Design
konstantinosd.bsky.social
The influence of Ultima Online (by Raph Koster) www.raphkoster.com/2017/09/28/u...
January 16, 2026 at 9:52 AM
polarisgamedesign.com
Ken Rolston's top 10 influential games (unranked):

Little Inferno
Civilization
Baldur's Gate
Myth II: Soulblighter
Dragon's Dogma
Daggerfall
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
Card Hunter
Call of Duty

Honorable Mention: Tunnels and Trolls tabletop rpg
January 16, 2026 at 1:49 PM
polarisgamedesign.com
Top 10 influential games according to designer Jolie Menzel @joliemenzel.bsky.social (unranked):

Kirby 64
Pokemon Crystal
Sonic Adventure 2
Super Smash Brothers: Melee
Super Mario Sunshine
Katamari Damacy
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Portal
Skyrim
Minecraft
January 13, 2026 at 1:46 AM