In Part 1 of this series, we talked about using a theme and concept to center a game on what players are interested in. Today we will talk about how to use communication strategies–both in-text and in marketing–to link your game to particular player interests. Communication If you make a game that is tremendous and…
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One thing that I constantly struggle with as a tabletop role-playing game designer is making sure that my designs match the interests of the players who will play my games. This requires a process, there’s no magic “players will like this because…” formula that you can plug into game design. The first step of this process is…
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Previously, we looked at the sorts of rights you get on your work and how you can protect your rights. Today we’re going to look at how people traditionally license games. Most licenses apply to the copyright of a game and its trademarks, with a notable exception in the form of the Open Game License…
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Last week we talked about the various intellectual property laws and how they apply to games. Now let’s talk about what happens when things go wrong. Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. Find a lawyer who knows their intellectual property law if you’re anywhere near an actual lawsuit. Objectives Describe…
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Let’s talk about the legal implications of intellectual property rights in games for a moment. Since the vast majority of complexity comes down to copyright, we’ll focus pretty heavily on that. I’m based in the US, and I’ll be using their law as the basis for this, but most things I cover are internationally agreed…
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The past couple weeks, I’ve talked about how to assess and categorize players’ knowledge of a game and what things tend to limit players’ engagement with your game. Today, I’m going to talk about making your game approachable to players and how you can work within the framework of the concepts we’ve discussed to make…
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Slightly more than a week ago I talked about understanding knowledge in the context of a game designer’s scope of work, and today I’d like to go over the barriers that often face players who are seeking to learn a game. Note that I’m talking about barriers and not assets here. Traditionally in education or…
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Howdy, everyone, I’m K, the head honcho over at Loreshaper Games. In addition to making my own games, I also do freelancing within the industry and have a background in education. I was also a game reviewer for DriveThruRPG for a while, so I’ve seen more games than I can shake a stick at. Today…
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