3 Bit Design

Tristan and Oliver grab onto their walkies as they go bit-spotting in the Wyoming forests of Campo Santo’s gorgeous hit Firewatch - specifically these three bits: 1. Open World Metroidvania & environmental breadcrumbs - lifting the lid on the reactive open world and its systems. 2. First Person Characterisation - Defying the generic blank slate player character trope most first person games re...

Tristan and Oliver venture down deep into the underworld of Supergiant Games’ renowned roguelike Hades as they nimbly dash through these three bits: 1. Repetitive Fun - Putting the ‘fun’ in death and making each run feel fresh in this “narrative roguelike” 2. Encouraging Experimentation & Variety - How the game drives exploration and nudges players towards trying new things. 3. Feel like a god...

Tristan and Oliver take on a bird's eye view in Adamgryu’s A Short Hike as they explore these three bits: 1. Living in the moment - How the game creates a world of explorative freedom of exploration and anti-completionism. 2. Meta-awareness by design - Looking at the game’s witty writing and how it self-awaredly pokes fun at modern day video game conventions 3. Battling mental health - Connecting...

Tristan and Oliver work together as they lovingly pull apart Hazelight’s It Takes Two into these three bits: 1. A game to get into games - Why It Takes Two makes the perfect starter pack for any newcomer to videogames. 2. The discordant storytelling - Questioning the narrative composition as well as ‘elephant trauma’. 3. It really does take two - Contemplating the decision to make it co-op exclusi...

In this episode, Tristan and Oliver dive deep into the world of Rapture to break down Ken Levine’s Irrational Games’ seminal title Bioshock into these three bits: 1. The engrossing worldbuilding 2. The anatomical control scheme 3. The player’s choice Find us on Twitter: 3-Bit Design: @3bitdesign Oliver - @oliverwauters Tristan - @theatrewalker Some references: What Bioshock Has Taught Me About Mod...

In this episode Tristan and Oliver break down gaming's creepiest little gem, Tarsier Studios' Little Nightmares , into these three bits: 1. The sense of scale 2. The eerie pacing 3. The environmental storytelling Find us on Twitter: 3-Bit Design: @3bitdesign Oliver - @oliverwauters Tristan - @theatrewalker Some references: The development of Little Nightmares - Ola Holmdahl (video, EGX ) Little Ni...

In this pilot episode game designers Tristan and Oliver break down Thatgamecompany's ground-breaking game Journey into these three bits: 1. The movement mechanics and flow 2. The minimalistic storytelling 3. The profound multiplayer experience Find us on Twitter: 3-Bit Design: @3bitdesign Oliver - @oliverwauters Tristan - @theatrewalker Some references: Journey and the art of emotional game design...