Developer Roundtable: Triple-A, Free-to-Play 7
by David Daw, Patrick Miller [02.04.13]
In this Game Developer magazine reprint, find out how free-to-play games Tribes: Ascend, PlanetSide 2, and MechWarrior Online are making inroads into core PC audiences -- and how their developers view working in the space.
Business/Marketing, Design, Interview, Social/Online

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Accessible Strategy is not an Oxymoron: Design Pillars for Skulls of the Shogun 15
by Jake Kazdal, Borut Pfeifer [02.01.13]
How did the developers of the new indie strategy game strive to break the bounds of the strategy genre? In this article, 17-Bit's Jake Kazdal and Borut Pfeifer break down the decisions that lead to the design choices they made.
Design, Indie

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The Aesthetics of Game Art and Game Design 18
by Chris Solarski [01.30.13]
How can the techniques of classical painters provide a roadmap that actually affects how gameplay is designed? In this all-new piece, Chris Solarski expands on themes from his successful book to illustrate an aesthetic path forward.
Design, Art

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How to be a Better Game Designer 26
by Phil O'Connor [01.29.13]
"Regardless of what kind of game you work on, design leadership is at the center of success or failure," writes design consultant Phil O'Connor, whose credits include Far Cry 3 and Operation Flashpoint 2.
Design

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Postmortem: 11 Bit Studios' Anomaly Warzone Earth 13
by Paweł Miechowski [01.28.13]
The popular "inverted tower defense" game was the first created by 11 Bit Studios, a team of Polish veteran developers. Here, Paweł Miechowski, the studio's senior writer, talks about the difficulties and successes of booting up and building a game at the same time.
Business/Marketing, Design, Postmortem, Production, Indie, Smartphone/Tablet

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An Alternative to Achievements 83
by Keith Burgun [01.25.13]
Are achievements really good for your game? Could there be a better alternative? Designer Keith Burgun examines the very concept at its core, looking at how they're used, how they might be used in the future, and how they might even change totally -- for the better.
Design

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Focusing Creativity: RPG Genres 79
by Jordane Thiboust [01.24.13]
What defines your RPG experience? This article, written out of research undertaken while in preproduction for a next generation title, helpfully delineates the essential ingredients for each type of RPG -- and what should be included, and excluded, from a title in these sub-genres.
Design

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Best Practices: Five Tips for Better Playtesting 11
by Vin St. John [01.23.13]
How do you best set up a playtest, and then use that playtester feedback in the development process? Facebook and mobile developer Arkadium offers up the best practices it uses when both running and interpreting tests.
Design, Production

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Postmortem: Vivid Games' Real Boxing 14
by Grzegorz Brol, Tomasz Strzelczyk, Krystian Komisarek [01.21.13]
How did developing an Unreal Engine 3-powered sports game for iOS impact the team at Vivid Games? Read this postmortem to find out just what triple-A production values do to a mobile studio.
Business/Marketing, Design, Postmortem, Production, Indie, Smartphone/Tablet

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POMMS: A Way to Get Your Players to Test Your Game!  
by Robert Hoischen [01.17.13]
Player-facing testing has rapidly changed from bug-finding to simply an early release model. In this article, indie developer Robert Hoischen explains how his studio set up a gamified bug-testing system using your player base.
Design, Production

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