There are many different stages of game development. Here’s my favourite: For me, there are five major phases: concept, production, launch, live and sunset. These can be broken down further like this: The five phases of game...

Pivot is the most overused word in business. It is mistakenly used to cover up mistakes or to justify expensive failures as learning experiences. This is only OK if the team had set out to learn that...

Freeloaders are valuable to your game. Embrace them; don’t kick them out. Here is a list of just some of the value that they provide. You can find out more in other books I have written, including...

I have avoided using the term metagame in my latest book. Metagame has many different definitions in current usage in the games industry. For some companies, it is everything that is not the Base Layer. The Retention...

In service-based games, averages are misleading. Humans tend to understand averages through the lens of physical properties. If I tell you that the height of an average male human is 5′9″ and ask you to guess the...

The Pyramid is a framework for the strategy of your game design. The Session is tactical. It forms the fundamental building block of service games. It addresses the questions: How will I get my players to open...