Description

This week we meet a game designer and learn about their work and approach to game-making, especially outside the world of Triple-A game production. After learning about game design, students participate in a game jam workshop and create new games collaboratively.

Class notes

Games! and things

We’ll start by playing some games arcade-style.

Wiz Boing

This is for a jam on Glorious Trainwrecks. The criteria was hats, spelunking, teleportation I made a rogue like, I think that’s what you wanted, right?

Yoke Mart

This is dozens of games made quickly and commercially!

I can make you a digital toy or game in 10 minutes to a couple of hours! Development of these games is streamed here. Message me on twitter if you want one. $10 per 10 minutes.

Human’s Room

by April’s Ghoul and Blake’s Andrews

Binky Eats Cake

This Game I made a long time ago, but gisbrecht wanted me to post it here, so I remade the original and made it dragon ball themed and put the original here.

200 Games I Won’t Play

Like a memo as manifesto!

I do not have to play Naughty Dog and Sony Computer Entertainment’s The Last of Us. I refuse to have my time or money sucked away by media that does not enrich my life.

Game Designer: Blake Andrews

Blake Andrews is a game designer, illustrator, animator, adjunct instructor, and “sound guy” living in Brooklyn, New York. Blake has published hundreds of short experimental web games since 2013 on websites like itch.io and Glorious Trainwrecks. They have organized game jams and playtesting for NYU Game Center, Babycastles, Wonderville, and Come Out and Play.

Blake is co-creator (with Frank DeMarco) of the skateboard video game Electric Scrapeboard that uses a skateboard as a physical controller. They will be demo-ing this and other alternative controller-based video games.

Website

Itch.io

This guest speaker program is sponsored by Con Edison.

Scrapeboard

Scrapeboard is a physical arcade game played with a skateboard deck and four metal floor pads. In the game, the player is a lizard who is given a skateboard deck autographed by Tony Hawk and challenged to face off against his goons. The object of each match is to perform combinations of moves on a skateboard deck as quickly as possible in order to block lethal sword attacks. –Scrapeboard Wiki

Questions for Blake

Submitted by students for Blake

My question for Blake would be about their general process for making games. How is it possible for you to code so many games in such a short time frame? What are your first and last steps when coding? How does the amount of time you put into a game specifically change the outcome of the game? And finally, what are your main objectives when coding a game for a viewer?

What do you think makes a good game? Is there such a thing as a “good” or “bad” game?

When did you start making games, and did any game or game creator inspire you?

What is your goal when making a game? What do you want people to take away from the experience?

Favorite game of all time, and a game that disappointed you?

What is the inspiration behind the art style and theming of the games

How reliable is making games for a living wage?

What is the longest/biggest game Blake has made in terms of content and what was it for? What is their personal favorite project?

Did you ever previously do internships? If so, talk about your experience.

Why did you create New Jersey Transit have multiple bright colors? What was the aesthetic you were trying to pull off?

Game jam/workshop

• 2hr game jam club on itch.io

Blake has led the monthly 2hr game jam at Babycastles and currently at Wonderville. Each month, game makers use simple to use game engines to finish a game rapidly.

Game engines include TinyChoice, Bitsy, Construct3, Puzzlescript, Twine, HTML, Flickgame, and others.