— Christian Arca

When we first set out to make a game we think about the overall composition. What is the world that we’re creating? How does it act to us? What does it feel like? We answer these questions and then we go off and try to find the fun (read @danctheduck’s post The Cutest Kindle Game Ever: Panda Poet specifically, the Long Lesson: First Prototypes Always Suck section) by iterating on our prototypes and designs. Everyone talks about how they found the “fun” in their game – and it’s an important journey to document and discuss. But in the middle of discussion, arguments and brainstorming to find fun there’s something else that’s happening. The “charm” of your video game is being formed.

Prototyping and iteration is essential. It’s what lets your game be what you want it to be. That process though can sometimes get stale and you can quickly become frustrated. So to keep things fresh, interesting and exciting we play with our designs, we play with our video games and by play with our creations so they form a personality of their own. Our audience starts to become attracted to our game not just because of how fun they are, but more so because of the subtle characteristics of our game that make it unique and speak to our audience. Our game isn’t just a fun game it’s that fun game – it’s unique.

In a recent game we’ve been working on over at Toy Studio we were stuck in a bit of a rut and waiting for feedback from some alpha testers. We had made some changes to the design of the game in an effort to find the fun but weren’t sure if they were good or bad or how they’d be received. We just knew that we made them. Our programmer Evan while waiting for game design feedback went on to tackle e-mail notifications for the game (as it’s turn-based). While buildling out e-mail notifications he decided to have a little fun with it and started writing funny but relevant messages to people in the studio and our alpha testers. Here are some of the messages that he wrote:

Your opponent has just laid down a simply smashing move! How insulting! It’s as if they just said to you: “I’ll use small words so that you’ll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon.”

It’s as if they just said to you: you are a tiny-brained wiper of other people’s bottoms!

It’s as if they just said to you: you are the son of a motherless goat!

It’s as if they just said to you: your mom goes to college.

Once the e-mail notifications were in we started hearing great responses from both our colleagues and friends. Everyone looked forward to the e-mails. Not only because it meant that it was their turn – but also because they had something rather funny to read and it potentially could be about their friends. It was charming, funny, and personal. The game was interacting with you and your friends on a personal level.

It might seem like a small thing, but sometimes it’s those small things that make people really excited and delivers that extra bit of character which delivers the complet experience. Our programmer Evan could have easily simply typed in, “Your opponent has made a move. It’s your turn now,” but instead decided to have fun with the game we were making and in the end “found the charm.”

There’s no exact formula or steps you can take to find the charm in your game (or for that matter your craft). It simply comes from the love and passion you have for it. Rather than letting the frustration, angst, and staleness take over during development remind yourself that making your game is a game in of itself – and the more fun you have with making it the more fun your audience will have playing it.

Since I’ve seen the great gamification debate pop up in Twitter discussions, forum boards, and unfortunately real life conversations I’ve always politely bowed out. Okay – perhaps not politely but regardless, I’ve bowed out. But there’s always a straw that breaks the camel’s back – or in this case a news article that won’t let me keep my opinion to myself. 

This past week, TNW wrote an article about Piictu , a new photo sharing mobile app. The title read “Just launched: TechStars’ Piictu iOS app gamifies photo sharing”. Now before I go on I want to make it completely clear that I’m not criticizing Piictu or TNW. My opinions are solely based on society’s current semantics around the word gamification. With that aside, society’s semantics regarding gamification are wrong. That’s all that really needs to be said, but allow me to elaborate. 

It seems that the context in which gamification is being used insinuates that gamification yields results and it does. However, this isn’t because the behaviors that lead to these results have been made into a game – it’s because the overall system design reinforces or causes particular behaviors thus yielding the desired results. It just so happens to be that the games have a lot of system designers and games have been focusing on design that yields results since the beginning of games (not just video-games).

Piictu “gamifies” photo sharing by providing context for the type of pictures you should upload. Example suggestive titles include “Show me your shoes”, and “Your favorite food”. Uploading pictures within the category of that suggestive title and earning a reward could be called a game by some but in truth it’s as Jesse Schell would put motivational design. The titles “Show me your shoes”, and “Your favorite food”, although simple are extremely powerful and provide the context that users need to understand how to use the service. 

A great example of recent motivational design would be Get Amen. Their service recently launched and a gamification description of it would be: “Get Amen gamifies your strongest opinions”. But, what it really does is a great job at motivational design. It limits what you can post about, as well as the text you can post. Therefore, you end up with updates such as “Sandals and socks are the worst combination ever”, or “New York City is the best city ever”. Your replies to the updates are also limited. You can either agree by amen-ing an update or selecting hell no and then writing a counter opinion. Get Amen has brilliant motivational design but it is not a game. 

I’m not upset about what we want gamification to mean. I understand the value and quite frankly feel that this movement should have come earlier. It’s about time we start thinking about our services with motivational design in mind (See my post “The Lost Features And Services” for more on that). But layering on badges, on points, on statuses isn’t a game nor is it good motivational design. In fact when a system is created with a poor set of rules and relationships the results desired aren’t yielded. And then, not only is the term game being misused but since the system wasn’t properly designed it could lead to yielding undesired results and in the end, crippling a service or product. 

The improper use of game mechanics – such as points and badges – devalues and could potentially de-syntheisze us from the true meaning of what a game is. Something as organic and special as play could simply become the act of a check-in. Is that what we want? Are we to assume that anyone who makes badges and rewards available through some medium is a system designer who creates an intricate set of rules and relationships and then fine tunes them to perfection over the course of months? I fear the day when a parent asks their children, “Have you played your toothbrushing game yet?” I’d hate my children to associate play with brushing their teeth. The meaning of game and play is sacred and should be kept as such. So for it’s sake remember, it’s motivational design not gamificaiton that you seek. Speaking of which, don’t forget to like this post so you can achieve the status of mayor for this blog post.

Over a year ago I tried using Evernote. Everyone who spoke of it said it was a great service and that I should give it a shot. I was rather impressed with it’s ability to OCR my writing from a whiteboard and that was enough to keep me interested. The problem though was that I didn’t know how to use it so my sporadic Evernote use quickly turned into no use at all.

At the time I wasn’t really sure what I would use Evernote for. At first I thought I would use it exclusively for capturing whiteboard brainstorming sessions and I did. But when my whiteboard use dwindled so did my Evernote use. I remember trying to use it for project note taking but at the time, I did most of that on the studio’s wiki, project management software, or via e-mail. All three of those services provided me with rather substantial means of tracking and tagging my notes well enough so that I didn’t need to do much more. 

Now, a year later I see the real power of Evernote. It’s not just meant for work, and it’s not just meant for play. It’s meant for my life. A collective digital scrapbook that I can scour at a moment’s notice. Whether it’s a recipe or an interesting game mechanic, my Evernote will give it a home and keep it safe until I need it. I didn’t quite understand that before my need for a service of that nature became so strong. 

Almost over a year ago, a feature of a web service I use daily went unnoticed, lists for Twitter. When this feature was first introduced I asked myself, “Why would I want to make a list of people I follow? What would that list even be?” I couldn’t answer that question. Today I follow over 1,000 people on Twitter and lists make complete sense to me. Much like Evernote it wasn’t until I had a problem that Twitter lists showed it’s real value. I was having a hard time keeping up with people’s tweets whom I wanted to read on a daily basis. They were often hidden amongst several hundreds of other tweets and visiting their individual profile was time consuming. So I started a list of people whom I’d like to read every day on Twitter. The list works great and it really helps me keep up to date with those users. 

So what does Evernote and Twitter lists have in common? They weren’t put in context to me when I was first introduced to them. I didn’t understand how either Evernote or Twitter lists would be effective yet yet now that they are effective, I can’t stop using them.  Building a great service or a new feature is only half the battle the other half is presenting it in a way which will resonate with the target audience. Twitter could have created empty lists for me that could have been slightly suggestive as to the type of users I would add to that list. Entrepreneur, gamers, techies, any of those would have been great context for what lists are meant to do. Evernote similarly could have made suggestions as to how I should use their notebooks, and add media so it all makes sense and the value became apparent. In the end, it’s not just what you build but how you present it. 

This post is inspired by Swery’s (www.twitter.com/swery65) GDC talk “Design Is In The Coffee” which was a very insightful talk and inspired me beyond belief. For that Swery, I thank you.

Cooking is one of my favorite hobbies. Recently, I’ve been doing a lot more of it. In the past, I have gone on “cooking streaks” where I would cook non-stop for a week and a half and then hit a wall. But this current streak has lasted a little over two months. One of the most surprising discoveries but also a blatantly obvious discovery is that I have gotten better. A lot better. Granted, I’ve always fancied myself as being able to execute delicious meals but this is different now. What I’m cooking now isn’t based on making a slight change to a recipe I found. It’s based on experience, flavor profiles, and trial and error. As I thought about this the other day while experimenting with a new frittata recipe I had realized I had found game design in the kitchen.

A lot of these lessons are basic but if there’s anything I’ve learned over the past couple of years is that sometimes it’s the most basic things which escape us. Here are the game design lessons I have learned in the kitchen and would like to share with you.

Work With The Best Product
When you’re cooking, working with fresh, top grade product is essential. The flavors that you will get from cooking market fresh wild salmon are not the same you would get from cooking with canned salmon. If you want the very best dish you’ll use the very best ingredients. Quite simple.

Similarly in game design, you work with the best game mechanics. They are your ingredients. You don’t just throw any cards, dice, action points, and bidding together with the hopes of producing a good game. You choose a card mechanic, analyze it, make sure it’s the best card mechanic you can use and if it isn’t you refine it so that it is the best. Just like one sour ingredient can ruin a dish, a game mechanic that isn’t the best in it’s natural form can ruin a game. Take for example mini-games which require monotonous repetition of a quick-time event. These mechanics eat nothing but corn and hormone injections and while they do without a doubt do the trick, they are not the best product. Whereas a mini-game which is a resource management simulation which ties into the very core of the progression and flow of the main storyline. Well that’s grass fed, thoroughly massaged, Kobe beef baby.

Cook What You Know
Although I might have wanted to cook a venison, cherry, cocoa nib, eucalyptus dish when I first started cooking I knew that the attempt would be futile. I’d lack the knowledge in technique, execution, and who knows what else (I still lack the knowledge to even come close to making this dish) to even attempt it. So I started with what I already knew. Seared citrus scallops, broiled chicken with mango salsa, things I had cooked before and was comfortable with. Rather than having a sad looking inedible dish, I had tasty enjoyable looking dishes.

You can’t expect to go from having zero experience with first-person-shooter level design and create one of the most polished FPS levels anyone has ever seen. You have to work up to it. So you start with what you know about FPS levels and you work your way from there. The level is at first small and might only feature a giant open area with spawn points that are equal distances apart, but it’s a level and you can play in it, dissect it, and decide what you’d like to improve on. It’s not a complex massive level which you can’t pick apart much like the venison dish I’d love to make. Or, maybe you are a great RPG designer and are great with skill trees but want to make an FPS. So you apply what you know about RPGs and skill trees and introduce them to a first person shooter which is an RPG done in the first person view where a majority of the weapons are projectile based RPG spells or attacks. By designing what you know, you can set yourself up for small, incremental improvements.

Re-invent The Traditional
Everyone loves a traditional Reuben sandwich or taco. It’s delicious and has been enjoyed by many for quite some time. Working with traditional dishes lets us experiment and perhaps create a deconstructed Reuben sandwich which tastes just as good as a traditional one but allows us to explore different techniques and makes it more playful. Maybe you’re curious about fusing flavors together so you try a duck confit taco for a french Mexican twist. Once again, it’s all about playing off traditional dishes to make something new and exciting.

In game design we see this all the time but often enough we don’t go back to the original traditional game mechanic. Rather than saying lets take a look at how Bejeweled Blitz adapted the match three game mechanic the question should be how can I adapt the match three game mechanic into something new and interesting? Bejweled Blitz is just one example but there are many others. Spy Party, at heart is Guess Who which in it’s simplest form is a hint based guessing game. Thinking about the traditional mechanics which successful games are built upon allow for an objective look at the mechanic without restricting ourselves by only thinking about the mechanic within the context of the game.

Experiment With Your “Flavor” Profiles
Once you’re able to execute traditional dishes and understand what products need to be combined to form a composed dish, you start understanding how these products work together and how they create a flavor profile. With this basic knowledge, you can start experimenting and compose dishes from ingredients which result in more complex flavor profiles. Experimenting with how to combine ingredients to create new savory, sweet, or bitter flavor profiles (or for the more ambitious – experimenting by combining flavor profiles) is when you start to explore new territory and come across a successful new dish.

A game’s flavor profile is much more about “feel” but could also perhaps be classified as genre. Regardless, by taking the tried and tested game mechanics which one has executed flawlessly time and time again and combining with other game mechanics which would work well together to create a great flavor profile is the next step. Perhaps you decide to pair an FPS with action points, or maybe you’d like to use the match-three mechanic to progress through a skill tree. By understanding the mechanics on their own, we better know how to pair them with other game mechanics which we might have not thought would be fun when combined. There are interesting flavor profiles for games to be made.

Make More
The most obvious thing I found out about cooking is the more I did it the better I got at it. Knife skills, flavor profiling, temperature control, consistency, texture, all the elements which encompass cooking all greatly improved. I’m not going to let this cooking streak end.

Much like my cooking, I need to design more. In fact – I don’t think any of us can say that we design enough. With that said – we must make more. Board games, card games, office games, trivia games, any games – we need to make more. Maybe we’re stuck on a 2 year project or maybe we’re on a 3-month development cycle. Whatever our situation is, we must find the time to make more games. By making more games we’ll become better designers – or hope to at least.

I’ve shared what I found in my kitchen – now it’s time for you to share what you make in your kitchen. Maybe we’ll find ourselves competing in an Iron Game Designer or Top Game Designer in the future but until then, we’ll have to do with sharing amongst ourselves and creating amazing games.

Special thanks to Merci (@merci), Robin (@robinyang), and David CZ (@czarneckid) for their comments, time, effort and love they contributed to this post.

It seems like only a few moments ago I was contemplating questions of what I would think to be of great importance inside my mind. I was looking at the works made by the hands of brilliant men and women. I stood up and appreciated them. In turn, the perception of my surroundings heightened. The Art Institue of Chicago transformed. It was no longer a buildling but rather a vessel. Its sole purpose to house magnificent works of art. Staring off into the distance of a staircase I noticed the reflection of the glass enclosure that surrounds a connecting walkway of the second floor. Those who traversed through the walkway walked on air. The reflection of the glass enclosure created an illusion of this otherwise impossible feat. Would I recognize this if this were just any other buildling? No. I would neglect the buildling and it’s sole purpose would be for my presence rather than for the true purpose of anything in life. To simply exist.

After exiting the Peteri Fischli and David Weiss exhibition I took a picture of the doors to remember their names. Research for later. After taking the picture I noticed my very own reflection to the right of Fischli’s name. Jodi’s reflection was to the right of Weiss’ name. While a stretch I appreciated the picture just a bit more. I played with the illusion that I was emulating Fischli and Jodi was emulating Weiss. This could have been just another picture – and now it probably is. But after I took it, to both Jodi and I, it was something more.

That heightened sense of perception and appreciation is gone. I sit in my living room writing this blog post. The feelings I had then have been replaced with bill reminders, financial management, milestone tasks, future projects, and every passing thought that dare fills this living room. We are slaves to the very own prisons we call home.

The “new kid on the block” always gets talked about the most. They’re for starters new, and that can be exciting, scary, and confusing all at the same time. For the past year, “social games” have been the “new kid on the block”.  Quotes such as “Social Games aren’t games!” or “Social Games aren’t social!” and “You can’t put title X on Facebook because it would be horrible as a social game!” have been muttered but there’s one common problem with all of these statements. Everyone is not thinking of Facebook in the right way. Facebook is a console. 

I realize I’m exaggerating quite a bit here but let’s accept this for now for argument’s sake. You can place your application within a Facebook canvas window and it’s now a Facebook application. You, the developer host it, and have absolute control of it. In fact, the only thing Facebook really does is provide something akin to what XBL is when you develop a title for the X360. It provides you with all of it’s platform features. Friends list, photos, e-mail authorization, and all the standard fare Facebook provides. Now, if you want to focus on micro-transactions as your monetization strategy for your Facebook application you’re more than welcome to. There is no Facebook games police that inspects every Facebook games and requires it to have micro-transaction monetizaiton. There is no Facebook games police which requires a player to add neighbors to unlock content within the game. These are all decisions which are made by the developer. (To understand the difference between a social game and a social network game read my good friend Robin Yang’s series on the Broken Social Game Scene )

So let’s say that tomorrow Epic Games and People Can Fly announced that they are releasing a web based version of Bulletstorm exclusively available via Facebook. Some of the options which would be available (in terms of monetization) would be as follows: 

Option 1 

Pay X Facebook Credits to play this game! You will have unlimited access! 

Option 2

Play the Bulletstorm Demo for free but Pay X Facebook credits to unlock the full game! 

Option 3

Bulletstorm is free to play but certain items cost virtual currency and maps are unlocked by the number of “neighbors” you have. 

Option 4

Bulletstorm is free to play but all items and maps cost virtual currency. 

Option 5

A certain gameplay mode is free to play via Facebook and it up-sells / markets the console version of the title attempting to capture a new audience. 

Those are all rather real possibilities and aren’t the only options. While some of these might not be the best options it shows the versatility of how one could potentially position their title to monetize on a social network such as Facebook. If some of these options might seem familiar it might be because they’re not too far from how Steam, XBox Live Marketplace, and the Playstation Network operate. You purchase a demo and then unlock the full game or you purchase a title upfront and then purchase DLC for it. Facebook is simply a social marketplace that offers many viral methods of distribution which much like the iTunes App Store has seen great success within video-games. 

Now let’s say you have accepted that any of the options listed above are viable alternatives. But, you think that a game such as Bulletstorm or say Angry Birds “wouldn’t make a lot of sense” on Facebook because it doesn’t highlight interactions a comment which was made by Facebook’s Director of Gaming Partnerships Sean Ryan at Inside Social Apps. (Ironically enough Facebook’s CTO Bret Taylor then went on to say, “Mobile devices are inherently social.“). Video-games are all about interactions. A player’s interactions with the game, a player’s interaction with the game compared with another player’s interaction, multiple player interactions which are happening concurrently, there are interactions left and right. The issue aren’t the lack of interactions but rather how to make them meaningful or as Koster would say make them “emotional notes”. 

If I am logged on to XBox Live and I want to play a game with my friends and they aren’t online I often find myself getting in touch with them to ask if they want to play a game. A lot of times today I find that I mostly use Facebook or Twitter to contact them. So why not create a party invite within your Facebook stream? In fact, Facebook is one GIANT matchmaking service waiting to happen for video-games. I would consider getting your friends together to play a video-game worthy of the interaction highlight reel. 

Another note worthy of mentioning would be any progress which a player completes within a game. If I unlock a tough achievement I’ll tell my friends about it. I overtake one of my friends in a leaderboard I’m going to let them and everyone they know about it. If I need help on level 4 because the giant spider is really causing me some trouble I’m going to ask my friends about it. All these I believe are interaction highlight material because you want to brag, share, or ask for help and that is a social behavior. Not to mention, that services such as Raptr, Gamer DNA, and others are completely dedicated into mimicking a Facebook wall of a player’s game activity. 

As in traditional game development, it comes down to the developer executing on their title. What option makes the most sense for the title and keeps the title true to its form. So go ahead, put ANY game you’d like on Facebook. 

Working in a small team is amazing. There’s a lot of collaboration, you build close knit relationships with your fellow co-workers, and everyone feels like they’re part of a small little dysfunctional family. It’s definitely a great experience. However, sometimes when you’re part of a small team it’s really easy to get into all work and no play mode, especially when you’re nearing deliverable dates.

All work and no play makes so and so a dull boy or girl. That expression definitely holds true. Running full steam ahead for days on end can become stressful not just for one person but for everyone. In a larger company it’s easier to not succumb to the energy of one person, after all you interact with many different people in a day. But what if you’re interacting with only 10 other people? That energy whether it be positive or negative becomes infectious and within a few days you can find that team to be suffering from a stifling plague. A plague that limits freedom, creativity, happiness, and fun.

The past couple of weeks have been not necessarily stressful at the studio but they have definitely been busy. Everyone on the team has been and continues to do outstanding work and plenty of times we find ourselves not taking breaks or not allowing ourselves to have fun. In other words, the plague looms. Yesterday, Robert (one of our developers) replied to one of my tweets and within a few seconds a Toy Studio meme was born called Ility That Shit. After Robert’s tweet I replied back within a couple of minutes. The replies continued and as the replies continued we started laughing out loud, and as we started laughing out loud other co-workers started asking about what we were laughing about, and soon enough they were in on it too. Within a couple of hours everyone was laughing, joking, and anxious to hear what the newest Ility That Shit was. Our productivity didn’t suffer, we still got everything done that we had set out to do, and we had some damn fun while doing it.

There’s no reason to have to be serious all the time when getting work done, especially in small teams. You might not realize it but the energy of one person can drastically change the way everyone feels. So try to remember that while the team is small everyone is there with the same goal and that you need to find trust in your work family. So next time you’re in the thick of it and things seem a little tense, go ahead and start yourself an office meme with your work family. You and everyone else will be happier and more productive for doing so.

Here are some of the Toy Studio ility-s (Join in on Twitter with #ilitythatshit) Which is your favorite?

ChrisA9 @Jessferatu @ryan_olsen @bobbylox @squall410@dsolano78 Durability. Can’t break it. #ilitythatshit

about 24 hours ago via Twitter for Mac

Jessferatu @ChrisA9 @ryan_olsen @bobbylox @squall410@dsolano78 plausibility. believe it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for iPhone

ChrisA9 @Ryan_Olsen @bobbylox @squall410 @jessferatu@dsolano78 Scalability. Measure it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for iPhone

Ryan_Olsen @ChrisA9 @bobbylox @squall410 @jessferatu@dsolano78 Mobility. Walk it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via TweetDeck

ChrisA9 @bobbylox @squall410 @ryan_olsen @jessferatu@dsolano78 Curability. Vaccinate it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox @squall410 @Ryan_Olsen @chrisa9 @Jessferatu@Dsolano78 Quotability. RT it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

Jessferatu @bobbylox @squall410 @chrisa9 @Ryan_OlsenI’mmadatyouility. You people induce it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

Jessferatu @bobbylox @squall410 @chrisa9 @Ryan_Olsensquishability. UNICORNS!!! #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

bobbylox @squall410 @chrisa9 @Ryan_Olsen Predictability. This it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

Ryan_Olsen @chrisa9 @bobbylox Fatality. Finish it.#ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox @squall410 @ChrisA9 Undecidability. Gödel it.#ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

ChrisA9 @bobbylox Agility. Bend it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox @ChrisA9 Incivility. Suck it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

ChrisA9 @bobbylox Marketability. Synergize it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox RT @ChrisA9: For the record, @bobbylox and I are having an #ilitythatshit battle. You should join…1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox @ChrisA9 Vulnerability. Hide it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

ChrisA9 @bobbylox Impossibility. There is a spoon.#ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox @ChrisA9 Inconceivability. Think it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

ChrisA9 Accountability. Bank on it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

ChrisA9 For the record, @bobbylox and I are having an#ilitythatshit battle. You should join…1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox @ChrisA9 Feasibility. Can it? #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

ChrisA9 @bobbylox Irresponsibility. Fuck it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox @ChrisA9 Taggabbility. You’re it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

ChrisA9 @bobbylox Trustability. God has a lot of it.#ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox @ChrisA9 Legibility. $%#D^^&FTG #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

ChrisA9 @bobbylox Assignability. Defer it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox @ChrisA9 Volatility. Secure it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

ChrisA9 @bobbylox Hostility it. Genocide it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox @ChrisA9 Interruptability. Discont #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

ChrisA9 @bobbylox Fertility. Penetrate it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

bobbylox @ChrisA9 Improbability. Chance it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via web

ChrisA9 @bobbylox Electricity. Charge it. #ilitythatshit1 day ago via Twitter for Mac

There is nothing more peaceful than the loud hum of a train on the track, the melodic voice of street peddlers, and the empty comfort of surrounding strangers. While some might despise mass transit I remember it fondly. Taking mass transit was always for me a time of reflection and exploration. One of the few environments where you can find solitude and comfort in the masses. Amongst 30 other people you are just someone else. A man or woman who is trying to get somewhere on a vehicle that is getting you there, and when you are just “someone else” that’s when you can be truly alone. 

The days when it was just Ayn Rand and I, a new album and I, or just my own wandering thoughts and I are long gone. Now it’s Bolaño, laundry, a puppy, and I. Other times it might be 4×4=12, a design document, my inbox, and I. My own life intrudes on my mind abruptly and without hesitation. One could make the argument that I just need to find a quiet place and time. That’s not quite true. Our environments make us who we are and that’s why regardless of how great of a suggestion is made, there is no place like Mass Transit for what I’m looking for. So to all of you whom are lucky enough to take mass transit every morning and every evening, cherish what you have now and relish in it’s greatness. I truly envy all of you. 

What is the one thing that you absolutely need to continuously develop and advance a company? People. But not just any type of people the best type of people. The type of people which will suit your company and will help elevate it to the next level. People who will share the same beliefs and passions you hold about your industry. So how do we go about finding said people? By listing responsibilities, requirements, and skills.

Every single day at Toy Studio I find myself using different skills I wouldn’t be using at Toy Studio. My responsibilities? They’re dynamic. They fit whatever is needed at the time. Requirements? I’m required to do amazing work and not let my co-workers down. So what about the job description helps me get the best candidates possible for this position? None. I am trying to reach out to a massive unknown audience looking for one specific person that I want and in turn, a lot of people are looking at my job posting asking themselves if this company would be the right fit for themselves. 

Now let’s say I post a tweet about needing to hire someone that is specialized in a certain field. My tweet gets re-tweeted by my followers, which might be re-tweeted again (or not), and with luck it might hit someone who is specialized in a certain field and might be looking for a new opportunity. There’s now a trail of information breadcrumbs that can lead that candidate right to me. They can now read about me, see what kind of interests I have, and what type of person I am. Additionally, they could potentially ask our mutual followers about me and the company. If they reply to me saying that they’re interested now I can go ahead and look them up and see if they would be a right fit for us (Toy Studio) before I even talk to them about the position. A lot more relevant than posting on a job board. 

Is the process I described above on Twitter flawless? Absolutely not and I would love something better, but it’s a start. In fact something which I mentioned to a buddy of mine who will be soon working at Facebook was, “You guys should have a Jobs section.” The best referral, the best way to find someone you are looking for is through the people you already know. LinkedIn tries to accomplish the “network” effect but still relies on the age old job descriptions. So if you’re an entrepreneur this could be a startup opportunity! Building the recruitment service of today. Now you just have to hire a team to build it. Good luck. 

Most of the time I find myself working on a lot of the games we’re working on at the studio or playing games for research. When I get to play games for fun it’s a real treat and I enjoy every second of it. So here’s a brief overview of what I’m playing in January and some quick thoughts on each title.

Battlefield 2 Bad Company

After being persuaded by several co-workers at the studio I’ve taken the plunge and started playing Battlefield 2 Bad Company. So far I can say that I’m really enjoying it. Destructable environments bring a lot to gameplay and allow you as a player to be an “on the fly” level designer to gain tactical advantage.

Minecraft

Minecraft is yet another game I was persuaded into by a buddy of mine Eric and I must say it’s been quite the rabbit hole. The beautiful simple complexity behind this game is astonishing. It has also made me take a look at different areas of game design that I really would like to explore and that I think could have a much deeper impact on a player.

Formula 1 2010

Anyone who knows me knows that I love racing. Specifically, I love Formula 1 racing. After receiving this as a Christmas gift from my wonderful girlfriend I can’t seem to put it down. While playing it my girlfriend asked me, “So all you do is practice?” I quickly responded, “No no no! It’s so much more. You see, I put in all these laps to see how well the car is doing and then make small changes and then do it all over again and then do it some more until I’m happy with it and then I qualify, and then I race.” Her response was a quiet , “Oh.” In other words, it’s a Formula 1 fan’s dream and to everyone else it’s you driving on a track for a really long time before you actually get to race. I love it.

Steambirds

A game about aerial warfare strategy on the iPhone. It’s smart, it’s frustrating, it’s challenging, and I like it. Apart from having some issues performing actions for planes that are close together it is quite flawless. Bite sized interaction puzzle pieces of strategy that string together to achieve a single goal. Defeat your enemy.