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SCVNGR's Secret Game Mechanics Playdeck. Some companies keep a playbook of product tips, tricks and trade secrets.

SCVNGR's Secret Game Mechanics Playdeck

Zynga has an internal playbook, for instance, that is a collection of “concepts, techniques, know-how and best practices for developing successful and distinctive social games”. Zynga’s playbook has entered the realm of legend and was even the subject of a lawsuit. SCVNGR, which makes a mobile game with real-world challenges, has a playdeck.

It is a deck of cards listing nearly 50 different game mechanics that can be mixed and matched to create the foundation for different types of games. I’ve republished the accompanying document below, which should be interesting to anybody trying to inject a gaming dimension into their products. Rght now, that should be a lot of people. SCVNGR’s playdeck tries to break down the game mechanics into their constituent parts. SCVNGR Game Dynamics Playdeck 1. Definition: A virtual or physical representation of having accomplished something. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Issue 1103, 2011. A Survey of First-person Shooters and their Avatars by Michael Hitchens A survey of over 550 first-person shooters, The titles are compared by year of release, platform and game setting.

Issue 1103, 2011

Characteristics of avatars within the surveyed titles are also examined, including race, gender and background, and how these vary across platform and time. The analysis reveals definite trends, both historically and by platform. [more] Against Procedurality by Miguel Sicart This article proposes a critical review of the literature on procedural rhetoric, from a game design perspective. The Pastoral and the Sublime in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion by Paul Martin The landscape in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is seen here as a central aspect of the game’s theme of good versus evil.

Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams: Popular Music, Narrative, and Dystopia in Bioshock by William Gibbons. Unfiction.com. You found me. Guidestones ARG. The Guidestones mystery got some press today in the New York Times!

Guidestones ARG

The article discusses the prolific commandments scrolled on the massive monument and all of the unknowns surrounding its conception. The Guidestones New York Times article stated that “Only one man is said to know the identity of the benefactor who went by the name of R. C. Christian when he visited this East Georgia city in 1979 and paid for the display, supposedly on behalf of a group of others living outside Georgia.” “I made an oath to that man, and I can’t break that,” said Wyatt Martin, 82, the retired banker who helped broker the arrangement for the monument, which is 19 feet tall and resembles Stonehenge. The article goes on to discuss the theories surrounding the Guidesstones’ existence, and the future of the monument. “But nearly everyone here has a theory about the artifact, built during the cold war and said to be, at least in part, a guide for civilization’s future in the aftermath of a nuclear attack. A Brief Introduction To Alternate Reality Games.

Would you travel to a phone box in a hurricane to answer a call from a fictional character in a game?

A Brief Introduction To Alternate Reality Games

We take a brief look at the rise of Alternate Reality Games. What is an ARG The simplest explanation of Alternate Reality Games (ARG) is that a story is fragmented over multiple locations (both real and virtual) and a community of players then work to piece the story back together. Clues can be found in a variety of media, including: videos, classified ads, phone calls, audio files, websites, email, real-life locations and good old-fashioned snail mail. The storyline of an ARG can also be influenced by the actions of the participants.

ARG’s are not like Second Life, World of Warcraft or Habbo Hotel (although they have been used as a platform to deliver content). For example, you might receive an email or text message from a game character telling you to visit a website or real-world location. The Business of Having Fun Photo by: sling@flickr There are all kinds of viable business models. Moscone Convention Center. Pass options for GDC have changed.

Moscone Convention Center

Check out our pass grid below to find the right pass for you. Scroll down for more detailed information on what each pass offers. Please note: all GDC attendees must be at least 18 years old, including for the Student Expo Pass. Registration Deadlines Pass Comparison Chart *Independent Games Summit Pass is now sold out **All Main Conference Sessions include over 400 lectures, panels, poster sessions, and roundtables ***Access to premium GDC Vault content, including hundreds of video and audio recordings from all 2014 GDC events (including GDC SF, GDC Europe, GDC Next and GDC China), as well as past Game Developers Conferences.