In the summer of 2019 I decided to begin pursuing a project, writing a series of short, diegetic summaries on some core concepts of game design.

In these articles I point to useful works by other game designers and theorists within the industry, as well as toying with some potential wider applications in academia, and other personal thoughts and musings.

[INSERT PIXEL ART I’ve also been trying to get back into pixel art.]

Like much of my work, I consider this to be an iterative process. Much like gardening, I regularly plan to return to these pieces and prune, replant, regrow. I am also seeking to receive as much feedback on these articles as possible. So perhaps consider this a form of peer-reviewed gardening.

For now, welcome to the wilderness. Let’s see what we can dig up together.

First Growth:

The Darling Buds of Entropy

• Randomness
• Procedurality
• Dynamism
• Balance

Second Growth:

Imaginary Hives

• Design
• Discipline
• Play
• Sentience

Third Growth:

Exploding Roots: Prisms of Cognisance

• Metaphor
• Emotion
• Feel
• Narrative

Produce:

Appendix A – Proto-genre