Six games now. Two sets of triumvirates. 

The AAA; Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto V. 

The indie; Papers, Please, Gone Home, The Stanley Parable. 

So, opinion time. Indie or AAA? PC or Console? Panel of judges or just myself? This year I only had the chance to play The Last of Us and Gone Home. They were both absolutely astounding and if anyone out there decides to give either a Game of the Year award that is okay with me.

The Little Ones

The games industry is more than just AAA, however, there is blooming indie scene. And luckily enough this year there has come forth an indie games triumvirate each also deserving of the Game of the Year award. The Stanley Parable, Gone Home and Papers, Please bring innovation and excitement back into the industry. Although the discrepancy between AAA and indie is still a horrid gap, the fact that one side is doing well is good news for both.

Gone Home is a masterfully told story wrapped up in some of the best design I have ever played. Everything about it is ineffable.  By using the smallest number of inputs to great effect, Gone Home minimizes the cluster and confusion resulting from too many ludic systems. The result is an immensely touching experience seamlessly connecting player and story.

Whereas Gone Home tells a story, The Stanley Parable subverts storytelling in videogames thereby creating itself to be an excellent meta-game. Just like the original Bioshock, and Spec Ops: The Line The Stanly Parable is a videogame about videogames. As an omnipresent smooth talking British narrator talks you through the game it becomes the player’s choice to follow it or not.  The Stanley Parable is both intelligent and fun, something all games should be.

Papers, Please takes an entirely different root. It has a purposely loose story allowing the gameplay to impart a ludonarrative upon the player. Papers, Please imparts emotions never before seen in a videogame, most notably being the sympathy from the player unto that of the player character. By forcing the player to do mostly simple busy work the full brunt of reality in a communistic dictatorship is felt. Morality is just as gray as the drab environments of your inspection station. Papers, Please is a simple game with powerful repercussions.

This triumvirate is the one that the industry as a whole should be following.

The Big Ones

So it appears that it is Game of the Year season again. And as excepted the three Big Ones of this year, the ones to beat, are Grand Theft Auto V, Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us. It is an AAA triumvirate of the best the industry has to offer. Depending on whom you ask any one of these games deserves the title of Game of the Year, and by the end of 2012 we knew it would be this way. The annual Game of the Year hubbub is the prime example of everything that is wrong with the way AAA games are made and reported.

The desire to create better versions of pre-existent genres consumes AAA development. The Last of Us perfects the zombie game. Bioshock Infinite is a better version of the original Bioshock, the new high for narrative first-person shooters. Every other open world game pales in comparison to Grand Theft Auto V. There is no more surprise. No more shockingly new excitement or innovation. Everyone wants to make the next one of these, because they are all great games and make a boat load of money. The desire to put revenue before the game plagues the AAA industry and will become the death of it, stopping innovation. As costs increase the risk becomes too great for publishers to approve anything that is not guaranteed to sell. It is this stagnation that hampers invention and creativity.

So which game deserves the esteemed title of Game of the Year? Shame to me because I have no idea. Each and every games publication seems to offer their own Game of the Year award. It becomes so that even individual journalists/critics form varying websites will have different opinions and deliver different rewards. Which one is more worth believing? Which one is more correct? Again, I have no idea. This is the problem with it. Every outlet is trying so hard for attention, continuous reporting and attention getting headlines, that it becomes a confusing mess. The D.I.C.E. Awards given out by the Academy for Interactive Arts and Sciences are often considered the Oscars of the videogame world. The other most known videogames award show is the VGX, former VGAs, hosted by Game Trailers and Spike TV. They went all online this year and most of it was not all that engaging either as an awards show or as a series of world premieres.  Still, their panel is respected the awards are given fairly.

This desire to be first, in both the development and media side of the AAA industry, is the cause of this problem. A shallow, borderline vapid, explosion of awards occurs at the end of every year in the games industry. It is a distraction to look only upon the deemed good of the previous year and ignore the more serious problems in the heart of it all. Everyone, including me, has something to say. I can only hope that at least one of us will get heard. The Age of Gaming will not be giving out a Game of the Year Award. It is for each individual gamer to decide what she/he liked best this year. When it comes down to it the award is just a matter of opinion. Find what you like and play it, show it support and let the developers, publishers and media know, because maybe then once the hubbub has died the real problems in the AAA industry can be addressed.

One Year

Dear Scott C. Jones,

In the May 2010 edition of Gameinformer (issue 205) you published an opinion piece stating that gamers should respect their elders. You stressed that this was of even greater importance in terms of videogame journalism. By having crafted sentences for decades and being able to remember when games were pixels you make the argument that elder gamers are just as qualified if not more so to write about and review games. You present the story of Crispy Gamer as proof of the unfair treatment that elder gamers are faced with. Its unfortunate demise was and still is the foremost example just how cruel and unforgiving this industry can be to those who are outside the accepted age. Finally you ended the piece by asking a question for the gaming community at large: “Do gamers truly want more sophisticated content? Or is it simply something that they like to think they want?”

And now, nearly four years late and spammed through the only available contacts I could find for you on the internet along with being posted on my blog, I would like to answer that question. Today is my eighteenth birthday. It is also the one year anniversary of my blog The Age of Gaming. Started when I was officially considered by the ESRB to be “rated M for mature” I set forth to write intelligent articles based in fact with developed and supported opinion. It was my grand goal of reducing the negative stigma that surrounds teenaged gamers. Whether or not I have succeeded is ultimately not for me to decide. But this noble experiment has taught me something and that is yes.

In answer to your question, yes. Gamers truly want more sophisticated, mature content. Because maturity is not a measure of age nor is it a classification to be given out by a ratings board. Maturity is a mental state. Sophistication is a side-effect. The desire for more maturity does not result from a dearth of it. It is, instead, the genesis of change within the industry and the gaming community at large. In the one year since I began I have noticed it. And in the four years since you first posed the question the answer is an undeniable yes. Videogames are finally coming of age as a medium. The painful and prolonged adolescence that so stagnated this industry is finally over. The next level is about to start.

Arguments can be made that say because of games like The Last of Us, The Walking Dead and others that games are becoming mature. Others point towards self-analysis in games as an indicator of maturity heralding The Stanley Parable and Spec Ops: The Line as the forerunners of change. And last, it is impossible to deny that no matter what happens within the gaming landscape that of the outside world has changed in such a way as to make games “legitimate” whether we think they are or not. The Museum of Modern Art opened an exhibit focused solely on videogames. I like to think of that as the undisputable litmus test.  Games are now mature and sophisticated enough. But all these great advancements and markings off of the great maturity climb are only external repercussions of internal change. The medium and industry of videogames is now mature because, from within itself, the shift from adolescence to adulthood struck stealthily in the night. These grand steps forward are only the result of the small steps taken inside each and every one of us. Maturity is the culmination of personal responsibility, devotion to others and the ability to admit your failings. These past four years have shown the death of THQ, Guitar Hero and all the old Gods. Some lessons were learned and others were forgotten. However, it is the growing sentiment to accept and understand these losses as well as the successes that give this medium its rise and fall. Maturity and sophistication begin in the mind and it is in the mind of the gamer that things have changed.

When I started this blog I had about a month’s worth of articles, or at least ideas, ready. One of them was this letter that you are currently reading. But, I held off knowing that I was not yet ready to write it. I did not feel prepared enough to venture out into the wild and harsh landscape that is videogame journalism. Not entirely anyway. More so I was frightened of the repercussions I might face, if my work wasn’t good enough or liked. So I waited and wrote and played and then wrote some more. The final result is thirty one articles, each of which I am immensely proud of, thirty game concepts and this. The letter that I wanted to write since day one. Because I wanted so much to say, but did not feel ready to until now, that you are right. Ageism in the game industry is not limited to stigmatization against teenagers. It cuts deep separating those who have loved this medium the longest. It was my hope that I could change the world, or at least gaming, with my thoughts, ideas and most importantly words. I stood to fight the intolerance directed at myself and my peers. And I was selfish. Narrower in my perception than I originally believed. There is no proper age of gaming. Neither is there a new one or an old one. We are all gamers, united by the love of the game. It is the hobby that becomes a passion. Consuming through us like fire, filling within us the very desire to save the world.

I was adolescently self-absorbed when I began this blog. And now I feel mature enough to admit that I was wrong. Presenting myself as the hottest, newest commodity in an industry built off of constant advancements was how Crispy Gamer failed. This out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new philosophy is the bane of industry as a whole. And for my part I would like to apologize. The Age of Gaming stands for equal representation of any and all people who willingly describe themselves as gamers. We are all of the Age of Gaming. That is why it is now that maturity has taken hold. The medium has grown to a point where it is so wide spread and so common place any attempt to add extraneous and erroneous definitions is obscene. Maturity is not defined by age; it is a state of mind. You asked if gamers wanted sophisticated content and the answer is yes. You asked if gamers will ever respect their elders and the answer is yes. Because we, as a gaming community, believe ourselves to be and through that belief find ourselves becoming mature and sophisticated. Whether you are 18, 44, 52, 12, 35 or 7 the Age of Gaming is what you make of it.

                                                               Play On:
                                                              Steven

Return to Pac-Man (NaGaWriMo Day 30)

Day 30 of National Game Writing Month! I never thought I would make it here. This has been quite the experience. I am also really glad this won’t happen again until next year.

Return to Pac-Man is by far the most developed game design concept I have made as of yet. It was originally for college related project. Now it is here and I am working on a new one for the college. Hope you enjoy it.

Set during the same time as Ms. Pac-Man, Return to Pac-Man tells the story of Slice. Slice is quite literally the missing slice of the Pac-Man pizza. The game opens with a brief cutscene depicting a yellow circle rolling along peacefully until an accident causes it to break apart into the standard Pac-Man shape and Slice. The two then become separated and Slice sets his mind to returning to Pac-Man.

Running over the dots, pellets and fruits will still cause them to disappear from the stage, however instead of eating them as Pac-Man does the character of my game, Slice, collects them without using them. This causes no gain for Slice instead acting as a determent, furthering his separation from Pac-Man. The resulting loss is one of friendship, companionship and love as the separation between Pac-Man and Slice grows larger.

The environments of Return to Pac-Man are the mazes from both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. Slice progresses through the mazes in pursuit of Pac-Man. However, upon finally reaching Pac-Man Slice will be denied, because of the relationship that formed between Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man during the other game set at the same time. As Slice grows closer to reforming with Pac-Man, Pac-Man is moving farther away from Slice and closer to Ms. Pac-Man.

Playing as Slice provides the player with a new gameplay experience than they are accustomed to with Pac-Man. Because of his unique shape Slice has the ability to push past Ghosts. When coming at them from the front pointed side, Slice can easily slip past them without losing a life. However, from the back rounded end he is just as vulnerable as Pac-Man. This small change reworks the entire gameplay from a chase situation to a much more strategic one. It is possible for Slice to just push past a Ghost and continue on his way, yet that results in the Ghost now being behind him and closer to his weak point. It is this risk vs. reward mechanic added to the gameplay that creates a new challenge for the player.


Thematicly Pac-Man is about gain through consumption, Return to Pac-Man on the other hand, is about loss through collection without use. Hence the growing separation between Pac-Man and Slice. To further the theme of collection without use results in loss, power pellets are reworked to become detrimental to the player. Slice has no way to actually consume them as he lacks a mouth so he collects them with no purpose. Instead of offering a power up and turning the tables on the Ghosts, in Return to Pac-Man the power pellets will slow Slice down as he collects them. Although that doesn’t seem like much it throws off the balance between Slice and Ghosts ever so slightly as to make the game more difficult when under the effect of a power pellet. But, the effect does not last a long time, just enough to change up the pace for the player. To ensure that the player actually goes for the power pellets instead of just avoiding them, like in standard Pac-Man, all dots must be consumed to clear the level.

Both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man were organized in a three act structure; a level of gameplay would be followed by a brief cutscene also referred to as an intermission and then another level of gameplay. Return to Pac-Man will be organized the same way.

Act I is entitled Separation, consisting of the opening cutscene in which Pac-Man and Slice are separated and then the opening level which is the original maze from Pac-Man.

Act II is entitled The Chase, consisting of a cutscene much like that of the same name from Ms. Pac-Man. Instead of having just Pac-Man chase Ms. Pac-Man across the screen several times Slice is added to the chase following behind Pac-Man. The gameplay level is that of the second maze from Ms. Pac-Man, the light blue one. It provides an increase in difficulty without becoming too difficult.

Act III is entitled Loss, unlike the others it will begin with the gameplay portion. The gameplay level is the forth maze from Ms. Pac-Man, the dark blue one. It is the hardest maze in the game meant to challenge the player. The concluding cutscene begins how the opening cutscene of Ms. Pac-Man ends with Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man facing each other with a shared heart above them. Slice enters and Pac-Man turns to face him. Both move closer to each other, but then stop at an acceptable distance. Nothing appears above them. Then Pac-Man turns and goes back to Ms. Pac-Man. They exit the screen. Slice is left alone in the center of the screen as it begins to fill up with all the unused dots and power pellets that he collected during his journey.


NaGaWriMo 2013 is officially over. It was damn fun and mostly I am proud of the work I did. Thanks goes out to all those who read my posts, who participated themselves and to anyone who enjoys videogames. Play on.

Gaming Game (NaGaWriMo Day 29)

Day 29 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

At the beginning of very level the player is given an assortment of geometric shapes. The player must then arrange them in any order they see fit to create a path from one side of the screen to the other. Once that is complete the player can now 2D platform across the newly assembled path. Levels are given scores based upon complexity, creativity, time taken to assemble and complete. The highest scoring levels are made available online for public play.

It’s day 29, what do you want from me? This was a lot harder than I expected. One day left. I am so very happy.

Thanksgivikkah (NaGaWriMo Day 28)

Day 28 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

On account of today being both Hanukkah and Thanksgiving, here are some simple little holiday games.

1. This game plays out like an old school side scrolling platformer. You must run and jump and collect both Thanksgiving and Hanukkah foods. Be wary though as you must collect and even balance between the two to achieve a high score.
2. Turkey Revenge is a tower defense title where you must defend your nest and turkey family from the people that want to eat you.
3. Hanukkah Challenge. It is not so much of a game as it is a thing that actually happens every year. My family and I played it last night. Hanukkah Challenge is simple and deceptively difficult at the same time.  One question: Do you remember the Hanukkah prayers?

Have a happy Thanksgivikkah.

5 Finger Discount (NaGaWriMo Day 27)

Day 27 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

You are a thief. A master thief that can steal anything you want. You intend to support yourself on that talent. Not being greedy, just using stealing and reselling as your primary means of gain.

The first half of the game will happen in grand heist movie style; laying out the plan, choosing the team, scoping the building, the moment to moment rush of action and unlawfulness culminating in the high tension, high stealth actual heist. If everything goes according to plan you should have successfully stolen the world’s most expensive diamond. You will never have to worry about money again.

Except, everyone is now looking for you and the diamond. You have become the world’s most wanted criminal. There is no way you can resell it now without being caught. You have no way no money and rent is due.

The second half of the game is you attempting to just manage living day to day. It would be nearly impossible for you to get a job and even if you did the only thing you are good at is stealing. So you move on to petty theft; cans of food, wallets, chump change in comparison. The world’s greatest thief reduced to shoplifting. Challenge in this portion of the game comes from the wait. Can you handle it? Can you keep your cool and not get busted? Can you resist the temptation and live in poverty until the diamond is safe to sell? Will it ever be safe to sell?

5 Finger Discount pits the player against themself. Forcing the player to confront their internal desire for greed and susceptibility to temptation. Is it still worth being a thief if you can never gain from your stolen goods?

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Don't Make a Fool Of Yourself (NaGaWriMo Day 26)

Day 26 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

This game falls into a similar vein as Octodad; it is a slapstick physics game in which you have to control a character that is ridiculously difficult to control. Start by customizing your character by adjusting both their physical look and their personality/preferences. That plays back later when you must take your character on a date. And, yeah, don’t make a fool of yourself.

Left and right trigger buttons correspond to the left and right leg respectively.  Shoulder buttons do the same for arms.  More specifically, however, each trigger and or shoulder button is the action button for each respective extremity.  The analog sticks then  control the direction and force of the action. Facial movements/expressions are mapped to the face buttons. D-pad controls the direction of the characters eyes and point of view. Oh, did I mention, it’s played in first person.

You must attempt to woo your date and not make a fool of yourself at the same time. Read his/her reactions to your movements, facial expression and view. That is will be your indicator on whether or not you are doing well. If you do well enough you score yourself a second date.

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Flaming Flatulence (NaGaWriMo Day 25)

Day 25 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

Yup. This game is about fire farts. Farts that are one fire.

You must balance the amount of damage you do to yourself with that of the damage you do to your surroundings. Eat too many peppers and/or gunpowder and you end up hurting yourself. Eat too little and nothing happens. The more damage you cause to things that are not yourself the higher your score.

Everybody loves a destruction sim about fiery poots.

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. I am not proud of this one. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Rehab Games (NaGaWriMo Day 24)

Day 24 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

This game is inspired by my childhood experiences with asthma. My parents took me to a specialist or two and they had specially designed test to test the breathing ability of  young children. They would stick this sensor in your mouth and tell you to blow as much air as you could. The senor was attached to a computer which ran a special program so on the monitor you could see a balloon moving across the screen in correlation to how hard you blew.

And thinking of it now raises two questions.

1. What other unique control options are there for interaction besides the standard fingers?
2. Using that type of implementation, via a game-esque interface, made it a lot less scary for me as a small child and much more approachable. How else can implementation like this be used for beneficial purpose?

The answer that keeps coming to me is to use these two concepts in tandem for rehabilitation purposes. Although I know that there are some places where things like this already exist, there is always room for more.

Idea 1 is to have a sensor that response to pressure that one can hold their hands. It can serve to build strength in the hand, using various degrees of resistance. The physical input will correspond to an in game reaction of a climber climbing the side of a mountain. The stronger the grip, the better the climber does. The climbing simulation adjusts in difficulty to match that of the resistance on the pressure sensor. Programs can also be set so that after  certain amount of time the climber will reach the top ending the rehab for that day with a sense of accomplishment.

Idea 2 is for leg, walking, running and balance rehab. Modifying a treadmill so it responds dynamically to the program. The program itself is responding to the actions of the patient. As the patient walks or runs the environment presented on the screen (or better yet, VR helmet) changes with them allowing for a greater sense of distance traveled and accomplishment. The program also generates tracks to help with the rehab inserting inclines and declines where they will be most beneficial. The treadmill will incline and decline as the program does providing a seamless integration of tactile input and virtual response.

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Home by 11 (NaGaWriMo Day 23)

Day 23 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

Yes, I missed posting this on the day it should have actually been posted. My bad. So today there will be two NaGaWriMo’s they will just be dated differently. And now without further ado …

Home by 11 is a game inspired by my experiences of being Graduated Drivers License (GDL) program of New Jersey. All the rules of the game are the actual laws of the program. And there are many. 

What makes the game fun and challenging are the situations devised and how the player/driver must interact with the laws. Each level has the main goal of getting home by 11 because that is when the probationary license expires. Sub-goals will be things that the player must complete and often make difficult the primary goal.

Example: You need to be home by 11. You’re friend needs a ride back to their house on the other side of town. How do you accomplish both? Do you speed just a little and risk getting caught? Do you cut through the college and risk drunk students wandering out into the street? What about the highway this time of night?

Home by 11 creates a risk/reward scenario. The more goals you accomplish the more points and better rewards you get. Yet, the more goals you complete the high chance of you doing something your not supposed to increases. Such as driving with or without the red stickers. All they do is act as profiling and single out your car to patrolling cops. Then the talk to a cop minigame ensues. Do you lie to them and say that one of the extra people in your car is your cousin so you don’t brake the one non-family passenger rule?

And this being a teen driving sim situations with less obvious routes of action will turn up. One level may have you attempt to drive home while slightly inebriated. (Bad idea. Do not do it. The Age of Gaming does not condone this action. Just, thinks it would be a neat gameplay mechanic.) Another level might evolving having to take a friend home and then perhaps following inside if all works well. But, can you still make it home by 11 if you do this? Or perhaps you just pull of the side of the road. Is your car and/or your actions inconspicuous enough to avoid detection or will you end up playing the most awkward version of talk to a cop minigame?

By pitting you against the clock and the rules of a ridiculous system, Home by 11 creates the most aggravating driving experience possible. The player can pick any course of action as the core of the experience is interacting with, abiding by or just out right braking the rules of the GDL program. Do you think you can make it home by 11?

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

There is someting I should be doing right now (NaGaWriMo Day 22)

Day 22 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

This game focuses on the disconnect that can come between player and player character. Specifically, the player acts as the voice of reason for a character that very much does not want to hear it. Input into the controller that the character should move left and the character may move left, or he may fight you. Gameplay is that of a constantly evolving game of chess, two opponents are constantly attempting to outdo the other and win control.

Situations will vary from fighting lethargy, to combating introversion, to attempting to stay on task and not give in to distraction. Perhaps, the chess comparison made earlier was inaccurate. Gameplay will be more of a competitive puzzle between player and player character. The player will have to trick the player character into doing what they should be doing. Can’t focus on work because of videogames? Turn that to your advantage as you convince the player character that each assignment is like a level in a game. Or make a deal with the player character, agreeing to let them play for as long as they want once the work is completed.

The player becomes a voice of reason as well as a conscious for the player character. By highlighting the distance between the two, this game is can attempt show the necessity of combining them. Player and player character should become one in a good videogame as conscious and reason should become one with impulse in life. Self actualization through a videogame as metaphor for videogames themselves.

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Or is this just too masturbatory a concept?

This is a game about friendship (NaGaWriMo Day 21)

Day 21 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

This is a game about friendship; that is its central narrative conceit and gameplay mechanic. And I could not think of a mildly witty name today.

Playing out like a 2D platformer, the player controls a circle. The player can customize the size or color of their circle in anyway they want, but it will always be a circle. To progress to the next level the player must get not only their own circle to the exit, but they must also get  square to the exit as well.

This is where the mechanics of friendship start to present themselves. The player has no direct control over their square companion. Only through communication, persuasion, trust and teamwork will the player be able to continue through the game. The square’s AI will be built to respond to the players actions, but always work towards self preservation and completion first. It is this contradiction that will greatly impact the player’s interactions with their friend.

If the player and their friend can stay in close enough proximity to each other for an allotted amount of time, they will become invincible for a short while. The power of friendship allows us to surpass obstacles that otherwise would ruin us. But, on the flip side of that if the player and their friend are separated for too long it will begin to negatively affect their abilities.

The first levels are structured to reflect the process of friendship and how it develops. At first their is little interaction between the player and the square as they have no connection. The next level brings them closer through circumstance and in level three the friendship gameplay mechanics open up representing the birth of this connection.

Levels afterward are structured to represent differing elements of a friendship. Levels designed with communication, trust, strength and competition are in this section. There will also be levels designed to weaken the player creating the need for this companionship. But not everything is nice and dandy either. Arguments, distrust, pain, and fights are common to friendships as well and they get their equal representation in the game as well.

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Power Up (NaGaWriMo Day 20)

Day 20 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

Mushrooms. Stars. Gems. Orbs. Chests. We have all seen a power up before. It is a common conceit in games, a quick reward for the player or something to get them out of tight spots. But, power ups are fleeting, never lasting as long as we want them to. Power Up is not just another power fantasy. This game explores what happens if all your power ups stayed.

Stacking on top of one another, Power Up will combo the players gains into a near unstoppable force. The simple fulfillment of power fantasy alone is enough of a hook. You start the game weak and slowly stack more and more power ups until you rule the game world like a god.

But what is the price of power? Perhaps there is a reason that power ups are fleeting. As you get stronger in the game, you will be able to progress further, but more and more character interactions will be blocked off to you. NPCs will stop responding and eventually main and companion characters will leave you as well. You are stronger now yes, but you are also alone. This quest for power has isolated you.

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Minimum Wage (NaGaWriMo Day 19)

Day 19 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

Taking the concept of an average person in ridiculous circumstances that I started yesterday, Minimum Wage has you play as a fry cook at a fast food restaurant in a universe populated with superheros and villains.

Playing out similar to a game of Diner Dash, the real hook of Minimum Wage is humor that comes from juxtaposing such grandiose characters with the mundane very day. Can you still do your job while the fastest man alive is marking back-handing comments about the service? Will you be able to keep the raging beast monster happy and well fed so it doesn’t eat your costumers? Is your boss a megalomaniac evil genius or is he just a jerk? These are the riveting questions at the heart of Minimum Wag.

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Killer in the Crowd (NaGaWriMo Day 18)

Day 18 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

A bus load of about two dozen deranged and deadly killers crashes just outside your small suburban town. Every single one them escapes and sets their sights on your home town. You are not a hero. You will not capture them and save the day. You are just trying to survive.

These various killers are not stupid however and most blend into society. Some more convincing than others. Killer in the Crowd plays out like a macabre puzzle game where the punishment for failure is death. You must carefully watch your surroundings and make note of who you interact with and what they do. Say you want to go to the barber, knowing all these killers are in your town do you decide to go to the one who says his favorite show is Sweeney Todd? Probably not. But, it is not always that easy.

Do you think you can survive when there is a Killer in the Crowd?

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Chronology (NaGaWriMo Day 17)

Day 17 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

Chronology is a game that has none. Broken apart into 10 levels that the game randomizes every playthrough, Chronology is an experiment in storytelling. Can a game and a story still be engaging out of context and normal beginning, middle, end flow?

Said story in question is the one of James Warren, a man responsible for blowing up a building. By telling it out of context the player will be left to draw their own conclusions as to James’ motivations, justifications and morality. The game itself will control like a third-person action adventure. Depending on the level there will be puzzle elements, shooting elements and/or high action explosions and escapes. Chronology should be fun to play and then heavy with the story later. Chronology should make the player think.

The 10 randomized levels of the game are:

• A conversation with a very menacing man (Think of a Tarantino dialogue)
• A stealthy operation into and out of a building
• Said building exploding
• A walk in the park
• Constructing a bomb
• Visiting some graves
• High speed chase away from the police
• A conversation with a very menacing woman
• Casing out an optimal point of detonation
• Visiting the zoo

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Sky Control (NaGaWriMo Day 16)

Day 16 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

(This comes directly from my good friend DJ. I am kinda out of ideas for the moment and need a day or two to think of more. So this is his, I am just posting it.)

A Starfox esc. aviation shooter. You a fly a plane, do fancy stunts to dodge attacks and stuff, and of course, shoot down other planes. The difference is customization; plane parts are interchangeable. You can attach big thrusters for more speed, but sacrifice shielding for defense in the process, or bigger wings for more control. Similar logic applies to the weapons. You get 2 weapons slots, and can choose between guns, lasers, rockets, homing missiles, bombs, or other strange yet useful weapons, such as a fancy boomerang, or spear on the front of your plane.

The customization would make for interesting multiplier as well, as lasers can pierce armor X, but rockets can destroy thruster Y better, or something like that. Different plane builds and stuff. This concept could be extended into a class based flight sim, rather than plane customization, to make TF2 but in the sky.

(DJ is a good person and you should go check him out here: http://acejr28.tumblr.com.)

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Flight (NaGaWriMo Day 15)

Day 15 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

(So, I missed a post for the 15th. Please take this as an amends. I will also post another one for today for the 16th.)

Flight is a game where you play as a member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. One day, out on a normal assignment, one terminally ill child, named Lindsy, says that her wish is to fly. So you take that and do your best to make it happen. But the thing is, due to her condition moving her is impossible. There is no way to get her on to a plane.

So what do you do? Here the game opens up to allow for many paths. Using mainly an interactive novel type user interface and gameplay (i.e. conversations and minor resource management), the explores the difficulty of being in essentially a mid-level employment position while at the same time doing real good. Each path has a defined ending although you can back out of any path at any time. Just know that Lindsy will respond to your actions and if she sees you repeatedly pulling out or going for long periods without progressing both her moral and physical well being will decline. Not all endings will be happy, but each should hopefully be worth while and in some way fulfilling.

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Conduct (NaGaWriMo Day 14)

Day 14 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

This game is designed with Kinect in mind although I do see easy transfer to the Playstation Move and Wii U. Conduct is game that teaches you to do just that, conduct music. Starting with hand position and simple rhythm patterns the game will introduce the player to basics of conducting. Then, using a similar system to that found in guitar playing/teaching games, the game will progress and get harder as it senses the player getting better. Faster tempos and more complicated rhythm patterns will eventually emerge.

The soundtrack will be purposefully selected on the merit of both being appealing to a wide audience and featuring a verity of conducting patterns and tempos. Similar again to other rhythm/music games, all the songs will be optimized to respond dynamically (see what I did there?) to the player’s conducting. Speed up or slow down and the song will match you. Want to exaggerate one part or throw in a que? The game will respond.

The end goal with Conduct is not just to teach the player something, it is to remove the barrier between themselves and the music. To allow direct control and involvement, direct interaction between the physical and the audio.

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Why Am I Bleeding? (NaGaWriMo Day 13)

Day 13 of National Game Writing Month! These game concepts are silly one-offs that will never be considered for production. If you’re inspired by one, feel free to use it, but it would be nice if you told me!

Why Am I Bleeding? is a game centered on answering that ever so enticing question. Each level begins with you waking up from various states of unconsciousness to realize that you are bleeding. You must now balance healing yourself while at the same time attempting to figure out what happened in the first place.

The intensity of your wound correlates to the amount of time you will have to complete the level. The worse the injury, the more serious the bleeding, the less time you have before you bleed out. So hurry, but do not get sloppy. The second gameplay element is that of a forensic investigation; following the evidence to find out why you are bleeding. You do not want to miss anything as it will reduce your chances of solving the mystery. Also be carefully where you bleed and what you touch. If you contaminate evidence with your own blood it becomes unusable to solve the incident.

Difficulty will increase with each passing level as the investigations become more complex and the wounds more serious.  Pitting your wits against time and your blood outside of your body, do you have what it takes to answer Why Am I Bleeding?

Want to do your own NaGaWriMo? It’s fine if you start late. It’s a made-up challenge. Write a good one and include the hash-tag!

Speed Bump

I am terrified. So very terrified of a great many things. Large trucks and buses on the highway scare me. Griping the wheel so tight my fingers went numb, I was terrified to let go. Being alone scares me. The uneasiness that sets in when I am by myself even in a place I know is safe. The uncertainty of things scares me. Being able to have control over events in my life helps me to maintain control of myself and I am absolutely terrified of what will happen if I don’t. The future scares me. Well, I guess that is because it is uncertain. But most of all I am scared of a blank sheet of paper.

This month I am participating in the made up challenge of National Game Writing Month. It is my graceful way of avoiding the actual articles that I promised myself I would write. I like to think of game ideas in advance and write them down, even if it is just a word or phrase. It makes it so that I don’t have to sit down in front of a blank space silently judging me as I attempt to create something. The blank page, the unpainted canvas, the blinking text cursor; they all scare me a little. If I am a creative person, why is it so hard to create?

°

Pac-Man.  PAC MAN.  Pacman.  Paaaaaaaac Maaaaaaaaaaaaan. 

Pac-Men.  Pac-Woman.  Ms. Pac-Man.

Ghosts.  Inky, Blinky, Pinky, Bonnie and Clyde.  Chase.  Run.  Flee.  Eat.  Survive.

Pellets.  Dots.  Waka waka.  Power pellets.  Cherry.  Orange.  Pretzel.  Eat.

Pac-Man.  Pizza.  Missing slice. Mouth. Eat.

Disappointment.

°

My future scares me. College is a terrible burden weighing down my every thought and action. Everything must be right. It all must be good to go to college. Go to college to get a job. Get a job to get money. Get money to buy a house. Buy a house, have a wife. Have a wife, start a family. Start a family, be happy. Since when did I fit the cookie cutter?

I want to make videogames. I want to go to college so I can make videogames. I want to create. I am a creator, an artist. Videogames are my medium. That is what I want. That is my passion. That is what I love. That is what I do now and hope to do until the day I die. But, the application asks me what else I do. Apparently, videogames aren’t enough to get me into college for videogames. So long cookie cutter.

°

Pick one of three classic games; Pac-Man, Brick Break or Donkey Kong and reinvent it for a modern audience. That is what the application said. I chose Pac-Man. Why not? Pac-Man is great. Always was and always will be. Should be easy to make something using an already great game, right?

Wrong.

°

Should I even be writing this? Don’t I have a NaGaWriMo to do? Won’t the college be able to read this? I gave them the address. Do they bother to check? Will it negatively affect my chances with the other colleges? Was it smart to make the one school with a portfolio requirement my number one choice? What if I don’t mention the name? Is it okay then?

Will it ever be okay?

°

I also play saxophone. That is what I do beyond videogames. I do music. Just like every other teenager. But, no, really. Please listen. I play the saxophone. An E flat alto. Yamaha YAS-28. It’s a refurbished school model that my parents bought me. I play in the marching band, concert band, jazz band, and pitt orchestra. I have done sax quartets over the summer. I have had jazz training. I know all my scales including the blues ones as well. I do more than videogames. I play the sax. Please listen.

Jazz band is wonderful and unlike anything I have done before. The first rule of being a good musician is to listen and that is doubly so for playing jazz. When the band is grooving, you still need to listen. It is not about you, it is about the band. Follow the flow. Listen first and then when you are ready play. Teamwork and interdependence in its finest. Going up to solo is as much an exercise in trusting yourself as it is in trusting others. The band sets everything up for you and you just have play. Out there on the stage, the lights hot and the sweat makes it hard to keep the mouth piece in place there is no time for second thoughts. You trust and you play.

You create. 

The band lays done the groove. The chords and feel. They place the prompt. They prime the canvas. They write the first word. Then I can create. It isn’t so terrifying.

°

The last performance of the play last year the actors came out on stage and thanked us in the pitt. They threw down fake carnations. It was the first time they had ever thanked us. I kept the flower. Using brown duck tape that serendipitously matched the color of my case I taped the flower to the side of my case, permanently making it fixture in all my sax endeavors. When the director asked me about it I said:

“It is minus one professionalism, but plus three pizzazz”.

°

Pac-Man is a pizza. He is missing a slice. 

Slice is a slice of pizza. He is Pac-Man’s missing slice. 

That was my game. There was so much more detail to it. Months of work. The best I could do. It was what I hoped for. My ticket into college. My ticket to making games. My ticket to happiness. That game was so much. 

So we drove a day into the mountains to get my portfolio reviewed. To have it evaluated. To hear someone else tell me it was as good as I knew it to be. I drove on major highways with the scarily large trucks and buses. My future was starting to come together. It was begging to not be as terrifying. I had done enough practice; visited other colleges, worked on this portfolio, knew what I was gonna say. I had it down to muscle memory. I was ready to move on to the next level. 

Pac-Man.  Slice.  Videogames.  College.

Disappointment.

The rest of my life.  My future. 

Disappointment.

It wasn’t good enough.

Game Over.

°

Would you like to try again?

10 …

9 …

8 …

7 …

°

Maybe if I switch now I can still apply to a music school.

°

6 …

5 …

°

Is it that I am afraid of the blank page? Is the potential terrifying?

Or is it the possibility of failure?

°

4 …

3 …

°

When you play a solo you cannot just stop because you hit a wrong note. You keep playing. You keep creating. It is part of the process. If the band falls out behind you, keep playing. Keep creating and never stop. Because when you do, that is when you are really done for. Failure is part of creation.

°

2 …

°

I want to make videogames. I want to go to college. I want to be happy. I want to drive on the highway with the big trucks and buses. I don’t want to be scared anymore. I want to play as Pac-Man. I want to play as Slice. I want to play the saxophone. I want to solo. I want to create.

I want to try again.