Savegames as a game mechanic

Underrated game mechanic: savegames. There: I said it. It's one of these things in game design that, if you're doing it right, no one knows it's there, if you're doing it wrong, it gets in everybody's face and it's the thing that ruins your game play experience. They're done right, if they're not intrusive. In … Continue reading Savegames as a game mechanic →

Dicke Olga in Amiga 2000

I recently bought a CPU expansion card for my second Amiga 2000 that I want to turn into a decent office machine. By saying CPU expansion card I am not doing this wonderful project justice because it is so much more than just a CPU extension. What I am talking about is the “Dicke Olga” … Continue reading Dicke Olga in Amiga 2000 →

Monetization, freemium, DLCs

Monetization in games has changed quite a bit over the years - and over time. The reasons are multi-fold - games changed a lot, game formats changed, the devices you consume these games on. Specifically on mobile devices, how long and often you play, changed, too. And clearly with the internet everywhere, paying and payment … Continue reading Monetization, freemium, DLCs →

Designing for streaming-friendly games

As I don't have much time any more to sit and play a lot of games on my own, what I am doing in smaller time slices that I still have on my hands, is watch someone else play games. Finding someone who plays the game you are intrigued about, have memories about, are stuck … Continue reading Designing for streaming-friendly games →

Copy protection in the good old days

I prepared an article for a German retro game magazine about the history of copy protection in games. It's quite an interesting topic that I had learned more about in the past months, working on preservation of floppies, playing with my Kryoflux and looking into protection systems of the 80s and 90s. I haven't paid … Continue reading Copy protection in the good old days →

Planning collecting of telemetry for the thermostat

Over in the other blog post, we discussed the idea of introducing telemetry to measure a feature's success and inform how to move forward with the feature or solution. Ideally, we would know early on in the development process, what telemetry we'd need, to make further decisions, and ensure health and usefulness of the feature. … Continue reading Planning collecting of telemetry for the thermostat →

Give me my tech map

I am playing this new game that's a city builder. The idea is that you build... a city. A very modern, complicated Sim City. Think "the settlers" or "Anno", but newer. It's "Farthest Frontier" - find it on your favorite game distribution site. I mostly like it, 10 hours or so in. What I am … Continue reading Give me my tech map →

Speaking engagement

I had the pleasure to speak in front of ~120 very skilled security professionals the other day. I am not a very experienced speaker, so these types of engagements wear me out until after the presentation is over - and then I feel energized. The talk wasn't about a feature or component I work with … Continue reading Speaking engagement →