Articles
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News Update: June 2025
I'm shifting focus from broad game analysis to concise, code-centered content for Games.design articles. A small update regarding changes to the site Backend improvements, better tools, and SEO enhancements. Site search and organization issues were also addressed, aiming for a more efficient flow.
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Buff Knight Game Design Document
An on rails strategy based game that fully focuses on crafting items to buff the player in a series of automatic gauntlet battles. The player controls a knight and a gnome that crafts potions. The Knight drinks the potions continuously to enhance his abilities while the player modulates the consumption speed and type.
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Star Yards Game Design Document
Winning a derelict orbital ship yard at auction the player endeavors to build a thriving ship building business, Struggling against market forces, rival companies, shifting technologies, and the pitfalls of starship constructions.
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Game Jammer Game Design Document
Participate in Game Jams aiming for the top spot on the podium. Develop your skill over the year by practicing and participating in Monthly Jams before tackling the annual Jam. Using mixed minigames to accumulate points towards different aspects of you Jam game. Go through several rounds of: Build, Cut, and Refine as you craft your 10 out of 10 game entry.
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Terra Farmer Game Design Document
A farming sim that divorces the classic grow crop - sell crops gameplay loop from the onset. Rather than being set in a dilapidated rural farm like Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley. The player takes on the role of a colonist sent to an alien planet for the purposes of terraforming. Player's must manage their plot of land, cultivating their way towards production goals and planting and re-engineering plants to terraform the planet. Interacting with the fellow colonists through virtual reality, given the significant distance between the homesteads.
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Golem Mancer: Strategy Options
Golem Mancer: Strategy
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Crysis 2: Power Systems
Crysis 2 is a sci-fi first-person shooter set in a plague-ridden New York City during a full-scale alien invasion. Players control Alcatraz, equipped with a powerful nanosuit that enhances combat, stealth, and mobility. As hes mistaken for Crysis' returning hero Prophet, Alcatraz becomes central to the war between humanity, the alien Ceph, and paramilitary forces. With dynamic environments, strong narrative design, and groundbreaking visuals, Crysis 2 blends story and gameplay into an intense, immersive experience.
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Stray: Random Noise Generation
Stray is a cyberpunk adventure game where players control a stray cat navigating a decaying walled city populated by humanoid robots and hostile creatures called Zurks. With the aid of a companion drone, B-12, the cat explores richly detailed environments, solves puzzles, and uncovers the city's mysterious past. The game blends atmospheric storytelling, minimalist mechanics, and immersive worldbuilding. Though short and light on replay value, Stray stands out for its unique protagonist, visual polish, and subtle philosophical undertones.
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Trashers Game Design Document
Trashers is a factory simulation game where players build and manage a recycling plant, processing trash into usable resources. Players lay conveyor belts, construct processing machines, train staff, and bid on contracts to expand their operations. The game features a story mode where players restore a rundown plant and manage various challenges, making it ideal for those interested in recycling and factory builder games. Trashers combines strategic planning with engaging gameplay.
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Alien Isolation 2
My take on a full sequel to 2014's Alien Isolation and the continuation of Amanda Ripley's story. I'll cover an in-depth summary of the story as well as proposed new mechanics.
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Sinking Logic in The Meg
The Meg is a big-budget sci-fi action film that brings B-movie shark tropes to the blockbuster stage. The film explores a research team's encounter with prehistoric Megalodons in the Mariana Trench. While the film embraces genre clichs giving them new life, it deserves praises for its straightforward plot but criticism for several logic gaps the billion-dollar Mana One station and dubious physics of deep-sea ecology.
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Golem Mancer Game Design Document
GolemMancer is a strategic RPG where players construct and command powerful golems to reclaim a kingdom overrun by monstrous armies. The game combines intricate golem-building mechanics with engaging side-scrolling combat in a richly detailed pixel-art world.
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Idle Doesn't Mean Off: Reimagining AFK Gameplay
True AFK gameswhere gameplay progresses independently of the playerare nearly extinct, overshadowed by engagement-heavy modern games. Yet, the core design philosophy of autonomous game systems remains relevant. This article explores how RPGs could implement AFK mechanics, allowing avatars to train, earn, build, or heal while players are away. Such systems add immersion, reduce grind, and offer design efficiency. With simple timestamp-based logic and smart scheduling, AFK mechanics can reinvigorate single-player experiences by giving time away from the game meaningful consequence.
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Climbing Giants: The Boss Design of Eternal Strands
Eternal Strands blends epic fantasy with tactile gameplay, delivering a vivid action-adventure experience rooted in exploration, elemental magic, and monumental boss battles. Drawing inspiration from industry titans like Shadow of the Colossus and Breath of the Wild, this Unreal Engine 5 title thrives on stunning visuals, fluid traversal, and climbable titans that anchor its most exhilarating moments. The analysis explores the design philosophy behind its boss encountersanalyzing their types, challenges, and mechanical innovations that position Eternal Strands as a spiritual successor to climbing-centric action games. While not without flaws, the game carves a memorable niche through sheer ambition and spectacle.
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The Core's Wobbly Science
A critical yet affectionate look at The Core (2003), a late entry in the disaster movie genre. Despite its star-studded cast, the film faltered with audiences and is riddled with scientific absurdities and narrative inconsistencies. Highlighting numerous internal contradictionsranging from pacemaker deaths and bird swarms to gravity errors and vehicle design flawswhile still appreciating the movie as entertaining, if flawed, popcorn cinema.
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Jurassic Park: Health and Safety
Jurassic Park is widely regarded as a cinematic masterpiecebut even legendary films arent immune to scrutiny. This article explores some of the hidden inconsistencies and questionable decisions buried beneath the blockbusters thrilling surface. Its a loving critique from a devoted fan, not meant to tear down the film, but to examine it with a more skeptical lensone that notices what most first-time viewers never do.
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Chopping Block: April 14th 2025
Among Trees, Cookie Clicker, and Dishonored.
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Unity's Year of Backlash
In 2023, Unity Technologies proposed a controversial change to its pricing model under then-CEO, introducing per-install royalties for games made with the Unity engine. The plan lacked technical feasibility and transparency, sparking industry-wide backlash. Developers criticized the surprise changes, legal concerns, and unclear implementation. Unity quietly altered terms of service, further damaging trust. By late 2024, after losing market share and CEO's resignation, Unity reversed the decision. Speculation suggests the original idea stemmed from internal marketing goals, but executive overreach and potential greed distorted it into a damaging corporate misstep.
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Chopping Block: April 11th 2025
Diplomacy Is Not an Option, Gunsmith Simulator, and Machinika Atlas.
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New Update: March 2025
In 2024, despite fewer published articles than planned, I made progress through research, project development, and website upgrades. I completed prototypes and developed reusable modules for future projects, like audio and save managers. The website saw several improvements, including updates to style, new features, and backend fixes. A new image uploader for easier management is in the works, alongside a basic site search feature. I also implemented view counts for articles and started optimizing the site's code and SEO to improve search engine visibility. Overall, progress was made, though challenges remain.
