The design and business of gaming from the perspective of an experienced developer
Let’s start with the obvious. Layoffs suck. The Microsoft layoffs especially suck. These teams were told to make games for GamePass, and then told that their games weren’t profitable enough. There’s probably another essay I can write in there, but all the same: my deepest condolences to everyone affected, and a hearty ‘congratulations and good […]
I probably own more than a thousand game CDs, cartridges and floppy disks and yet I’d be hard-pressed to tell you the last time I physically touched a piece of game media. My gaming nowadays is nearly all downloaded – most frequently through Steam, Gamepass and the iOS store. So my thoughts on the news […]
One of the dirty secrets to making these lists is that, for those of us making the lists, the top is rarely very interesting. Sure, this part of the list are the games I’ve played the most and love the best, and writing those stupid little blurbs is a lot easier. On the other hand […]
We’re now at the part of the list with our evergreen rock stars. Not a lot of new stuff on this portion of the list, just absolutely tried and true games that will probably be on my list for years to come. But they’re still not the best! That is coming soon…. 20. Rock Hard: […]
If you come to this list to hear about new shit, this is the section for you. For some reason, this section of the list has the highest concentration of new games of any part of the list, with five new entries. Normally, new entries don’t show up so high – games need to prove […]
I had a lot of new titles on my list this year, but we’re now to the part of the list where change is fewer and far between. This is both good and bad. It’s good because these games I know and love and can talk about much easier. The bad news is coming up […]
As we get into the top half of the list, the games are slowly starting to get heavier. Here we’re starting to get into bigger presentations and thinkier puzzles. But you can also have a couple of big, social party games. As a treat. 50. Final Girl (2021) “You alone must survive and defeat the […]
Finally, we’re starting to get to some games that have a little heft to them. These games are all games that are a tad situational, we’re also edging dangerously close to the part of the list where everything listed is a bona fide banger. 60. Nemo’s War: The Ultimate Edition (2022) “Sail the Seven Seas […]
As we get into this collection of 10 games, we’re really getting to the ‘filler’ section of the games. I prefer mid-weight games personally and most of the stuff near the top of the list will reflect that, but you always need these lighter games in your collection for when people are running late, when […]
I know, I know, I’m running way behind on a series I normally try to finish in early December each year. I’ve made a commitment to myself that I’m definitely going to try to wrap this up by the end of January, so expect a hard push in the next few days. 80. Mistwind (2024) […]