🏆 Creators of SolForge Fusion, Ascension Deck Building Game, Shards of Infinity, & more! Join the fun, explore our games, and sign up to our newsletter.
Joined November 2012
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Stone Blade Entertainment retweeted
I agree that the new set of tools reduces the burden of making nice prototypes which can help make the experience better. Just be careful not to fall in love with the thing you made too early. Sometimes ugly is an advantage because you have less resistance to changing it.
Think about your favorite game night. Chances are, you remember more than the rules or who won.
You remember the ridiculous comeback, the unexpected alliance, the moment everyone burst out laughing.
That's the magic game designers are trying to create.
Your first game prototype should be ugly.
Index cards. A marker. Borrowed dice. Paper tokens.
The goal isn't to impress anyone. It's to answer one question: Is this idea fun when someone actually plays it?
Build the smallest version. Test it. Learn. Repeat.
What makes a great game designer?
Not just knowing the rules or balancing the numbers.
It takes C.O.R.E.:
🔎 Curiosity
🔥 Obsession
💪 Resilience
🤝 Empathy
Explore widely. Keep iterating. Learn from failure. Design for real people.
Which one matters most?
#GameDesign
What does it really take to become a game designer? After 20+ years in the industry, I believe it comes down to four core attributes: C.O.R.E.
Read it here👇
justingarydesign.substack.co…
Which C.O.R.E. attribute do you think matters most?
#GameDesign #GameDevelopment
Art isn’t decoration added after game design. Color, shape, layout, and iconography can teach players how the game works before they read a rule. #GameDesign
Every new rule asks the player to spend attention. Treat complexity like a budget. Spend it only where it creates something worth learning.
#GameDesign
Games are powerful learning systems because they combine decisions with immediate feedback and permission to try again.
The player learns by doing—not by being told the correct answer first.
#GameDesign
New tools can dramatically shorten the distance between idea and prototype. The goal isn’t to use every tool—it’s to remove the bottleneck between thinking and testing.
A useful question for every cooperative game: what changes because this specific player is at the table?
If one dominant player can make every optimal decision, the game risks turning cooperation into spectatorship.
Co-op design has a hard test: does each player create meaningful decisions, or are several people just operating one shared brain?
What can Wingspan teach us about game design, AI, and protecting creative work?
Listen to the interview here: justingarydesign.substack.co…
Want to change your social environment? You don’t always need a dramatic breakup.
Start filling your calendar with the people and places you want more of.
#PersonalGrowth
Environment design isn’t only about your desk, your phone, or your habits.
It includes people.
Spend enough time around builders, creators, athletes, or entrepreneurs and their behaviors begin to feel normal too.
#DesignThinking
Big decisions feel paralyzing when they’re framed as permanent. Turn them into experiments where possible.
As AI gets better at creating, your voice becomes more important.
justingarydesign.substack.co…
Stone Blade Entertainment retweeted
🎉🎃The @Steam Autumn Sale is here🎃🎉 Click the link below to download some of our games such as Ascension, Twilight Struggle and more at up to 50% off from now until October 8th! 🔥
linktr.ee/playdek
