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Ben Serviss's Blog
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Freelance game designer working in commercial, social, educational and indie games. I write about game design, narrative and the NYC development scene at dashjump.com. Follow me on twitter at @benserviss. |
Expert Blogs
Don’t Let Bad Lip Sync Break the Spell  |
| Posted by Ben Serviss on Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:15:00 EDT in
Design,
Art,
Indie,
Console/PC
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| Games are more cinematic than ever, but performances often fall short. Luckily, there are alternatives to settling for so-so lip sync. |
| Read More... | 12 Comments |
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Cracking the Touchscreen Code |
| Posted by Ben Serviss on Thu, 06 Jun 2013 09:15:00 EDT in
Design,
Business/Marketing,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Indie
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| If touchscreen devices are the future, are game controllers holding us back? |
| Read More... | 11 Comments |
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Why Aren’t There Games About [Blank]? |
| Posted by Ben Serviss on Thu, 30 May 2013 09:10:00 EDT in
Indie,
Design
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| What do you do when no game addresses a topic you're passionate about? Simple: make it yourself. |
| Read More... | 12 Comments |
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Letting the Player Find the Fun |
| Posted by Ben Serviss on Thu, 23 May 2013 09:15:00 EDT in
Design,
Console/PC,
Indie
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| Are hand-holding tutorials holding games back? Starseed Pilgrim offers lessons in increasing player discoverability. |
| Read More... | 2 Comments |
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Maximizing Your Side Project Success |
| Posted by Ben Serviss on Thu, 16 May 2013 11:11:00 EDT in
Production,
Design
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| Stuck under a mountain of side projects? Manage your time and increase your successes with these key questions. |
| Read More... | 1 Comments |
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The Importance of Making Players Feel Important |
| Posted by Ben Serviss on Thu, 09 May 2013 09:15:00 EDT in
Smartphone/Tablet,
Social/Online,
Indie,
Console/PC,
Design
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| How do you make your players feel important? These three tips could mean the difference between a bad review and a lifelong fan. |
| Read More... | 6 Comments |
[More Ben Serviss Blogs]
Ben Serviss's Comments
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Comment In: Cracking the Touchscreen Code [Blog - 06/06/2013 - 09:15]
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Good point, touch interfaces as ... Good point, touch interfaces as the sole input method may very well end up as a transition step before we get true Minority Report-style motion input and wearable computers. r n r nThough, touchscreens could certainly carry over into whatever 's next, much like we still have traditional dpads on ... |
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Comment In: Why Aren’t There Games About [Blank]? [Blog - 05/30/2013 - 09:10]
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Some topics may not be ... Some topics may not be best suited for games, but it 's definitely possible to reach for ambitious ones. Check out this write-up of That Dragon, Cancer at GDC: r nhttp://www.unwinnable.com/2013/04/05/that-dragon-cancer/ |
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Comment In: Letting the Player Find the Fun [Blog - 05/23/2013 - 09:15]
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On one hand, it 's ... On one hand, it 's kind of a shame that games don 't regularly challenge people to puzzle out their goals more. r n r nOn the other hand, I definitely don 't miss the days of the mystifying 8-bit game that came with a head-scratching manual at best, and ... |
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Comment In: The Importance of Making Players Feel Important [Blog - 05/09/2013 - 09:15]
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Right - it 's less ... Right - it 's less about adding a million low-hanging achievements or Good job pop-ups to butter up the player 's ego, and more about demonstrating that their presence and actions in the game world directly impact their experience. |
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Comment In: Star Wars 1313 dev on talking to the player through design [News - 05/08/2013 - 01:28]
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This is a fantastic talk ... This is a fantastic talk that anybody working in or interested in design should watch. |
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Comment In: The Problem with Game Reviews (And Why Games Are Like Restaurants) [Blog - 05/02/2013 - 09:15]
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I was waiting for someone ... I was waiting for someone to make this comment : r n r nYou 're totally right, of course - but while the authored experiences in these linear media don 't change, the reader/user 's own life experience may have. In the case of games, the default experience is mutable ... |
[More Ben Serviss Comments]
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