Furidashi Game Design Academy

Lauryn and Nicholas discuss gamedev industry trends from the past year and try to explain why endless series of sequels and remakes may not necessarily be a bad thing. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality

Last year Lauryn and Nicholas went through a year in Furidashi and as part of that recorded a behind the scenes for their Patreon subscribers. We're unlocking that episode now for all to enjoy! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality

Nicholas tries to help Lauryn exorcise all those academic demons that still haunt her brain, as they look back on her thesis project re: ludonarrative harmony and try to reconceptualize it based on what they've learned over Furidashi's two years of existence. Clint Hocking on "Ludonarrative Dissonance" Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi...

Lauryn and Nicholas dive into why virtual reality gaming seems to keep tripping over itself, how the body does and does not function as a "controller," and why we need to look more broadly to understand the efficacy of simulated experiences. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/ac...

Lauryn and Nicholas take a page out of their current book project--quite literally--and discuss how you as a player develop through gameplay both in response to but also independent of the particular game in question. Also: Lauryn is a crow? Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twi...

Riffing on Sakurai Masahiro's recent video on the origins of Super Smash Bros., Lauryn and Nicholas discuss fighting games, accessibility, and how to innovate by responding and adapting to genre conventions rather than trying to wholly reinvent them. Sakurai on Super Smash Bros. Furidashi Ep. 11 on controls and accessibility Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/f...

Following up on previous discussions concerning the relationship between subjectivity and gameplay, Lauryn and Nicholas look at combat not from the perspective of mechanics and systems but more holistically, through the encounter. Episode 53: Character and Social Class in Dishonored Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://tw...

Lauryn and Nicholas continue on the theme of thinking of gameplay in narratological terms by looking at combat encounters as a microcosm of broader narrative structures. Also on the docket: what it feels like to be pumbled. Tilda vs. The Widow - Into the Badlands Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas:...

Following up on the previous episode, Lauryn and Nicholas explore the concept of the "immersive sim" and how games try to teach their players what do through more seamless, tutorial-like elements. Interview with Warren Spector from Glixel   Guardian Piece on Immersion Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furid...

Lauryn and Nicholas finally get around to defining (and critiquing) the concept of immersion, what flow is, and why the two concepts are not all that distinct. Also: Lauryn hates chess. Jason VandenBerghe, "Applying the 5 Domains of Play" Episode 3 - Gaming Player Psychology Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynas...

Lauryn and Nicholas continue from the free episode's conversation to critique the distinction between hard and soft world building in game narrative, how to avoid common pitfalls, and how to properly address the subjective feel of a game. Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitte...

Lauryn and Nicholas cancel the Furidashi experience to become an Alchemy of Souls fancast... or they discuss the joys and pitfalls of world-building for game design. Also: Lauryn gets heartburn over Assassin's Creed. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality

Lauryn and Nicholas get into the weeds about how progression and narrative systems both overlap and are distinct from one another. 67. Adventures in Management: Backpack Hero Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality

Riffing on the dichotomy between dev driven game design and player driven design, Lauryn and Nicholas discuss the particulars of plotting game narratives and making them work with video game mechanics and systems. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality

Lauryn and Nicholas dive deeper into the question of what story is in video games and address things like audio cuing, nonverbal signaling, and when the dissonance between gameplay and what's "supposed" to be happening can be used toward productive ends. Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn...

Setting aside the endless talk of systems and mechanics, Lauryn and Nicholas discuss what story in games looks like and the ways in which it differs from other media, such as film or literature. Furidashi Youtube Channel Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality

Lauryn and Nicholas address the occasional overlap between narrative and progression systems but also get into the weeds about what make them distinct from both a gameplay and backend perspective. Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitt...

Lauryn schools Nicholas about the several methods games use to convey narrative content, and no... we're not just talking cutscenes. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality

Lauryn and Nicholas return to the MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics) framework to show how it was of a particular time and describes a game production process that may not be as useful in the current era. Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: ht...

Lauryn and Nicholas take a look at the MDA Framework for game design, how it envisions games as "artifacts," and how it structures the design process as a discrete series of movements from mechanics to systems to player experience. MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research Episode 3: Gaming Player Psychology (re: Jason VandenBerghe) Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter:...

Lauryn and Nicholas discuss the similarities and differences between narrative and progression systems as well as how games have in recent years moved away from the "narrative wrapper" to make storytelling a more fully integrated game function. Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://...

Lauryn and Nicholas jack into their cyberdecks to hack the motherbrain of game design: the system! Also on the docket: the fate the two GMs. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality

Following up from their previous discussion, Lauryn and Nicholas get into the nitty-gritty as to what constitutes "meaningful mechanics" and how to make game design decisions that successfully model or provide some analogue to real life experiences. Also on the docket: walkable neighborhoods? Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter:...

Lauryn makes Nicholas finally explain the tabletop game he's working on in his spare time, called UrbanPlan, that tries to model the push and pull of local politicking and land use through game mechanics. Also on the docket: Lauryn does ad copy! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.co...

Second half of our conversation with Square Weasel Studio on aesthetics and storytelling, in which we discuss the odd disconnect between the games we play and the games we make and how disorienting yourself is creatively productive. Square Weasel: https://twitter.com/remaindervn Unlock the full episode (and more!) for $5 a month on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitte...