CHAINMAIL: 07.21.2023

Lenticular Design - Making Magic

This may come across as a very strange article to reference. Written by Mark Rosewater, the head designer of Magic: The Gathering, this article discusses Mark's philosophy of "lenticular design" and how he uses it to create the best Magic cards he can. The basics of lenticular design focus on design that is simple to understand at face value but offers up more complex interactions when you dive into it. This is important so that new players as well as experienced players can get fulfillment out of a particular design concept. For Magic, this focuses around card design, and making sure that players don't get alienated based off their experience level. In the same way, this can be applied to our worldbuilding and homebrewing. At the table, we have players of all experience levels and backgrounds. It's important to make sure your content is multi-dimensional. Mark Rosewater is a game design legend, so put some faith in what he has to say and give the article a read.  

How to Keep Players Engaged (Without Being Evil) - Game Maker's Toolkit

If you couldn't tell by this point, I love Game Maker's Toolkit. I really am fascinated by game design as a whole, and how the concepts relevant there can apply to our TTRPGs. This video takes a look at keeping players engaged from a different angle than I think GMs are used to. Usually, as a GM, we tackle this problem through captivating story and narrative developments. That is a fantastic way to engage with your players, but this video instead looks at your gameplay and explains how you can optimize there as well to keep your players engaged. Really great stuff. Don't be turned off by his constant focus on video games. This is super useful knowledge for GMs alike.  

#9: Jordan Weisman - Think Like a Game Designer

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE THIS PODCAST. Such an amazing resource for aspiring game designers. I am a big proponent of finding mentors to learn from, and with the internet, you never even have to meet them. Our mentors are found in podcasts and youtube videos. They write blogs and share their knowledge selflessly. This episode of Think Like a Game Designer is an interview with Jordan Weisman, the creator of Shadowrun as well as many other games and IPs. He is super inspiring and the info he shares in this podcast is so helpful.

I hope these resources inspire you! If you haven't already, the best way to stay up to date with everything hothead related is to join the discord. See you next week!