Tynan Sylvester - Designing Games: A Guide to Engineering Experiences

In this episode we read Rimworld creator Tynan Sylvester's design textbook.00:00 introOVERVIEW01:34 situating the book in our collection07:55 signposting cultural politics10:30 book's structure & approachPHILOSOPHY & PSYCHOLOGY 17:33 engines of experience20:30 events and anticipation23:09 emotion and human values27:50 an interesting take on "flow"INTERESTING AREAS/CHAPTERS30:30 challenge & mastery34:12 flexible meanings of "narrative"40:34 decisions types & intensities 47:05 strategy design & balance50:18 predicting your opponent ("yomi")55:38 game theory & griefing01:01:40 some other chapters/topicsPRODUCTION / PROCESSES01:03:20 the market and the specificity of game appeal01:02:45 processes and planning01:07:40 knowledge, research, and evaluating ideas01:09:00 the dependency stack01:13:00 collaboration, sensitivity and the Rimworld controversy01:31:05 what we're reading next timeThe theme song was produced by show host Joe Baxter-Webb.The Ludonarrative Dissonance jingle was "Carvings" by Blood of Geruda, licensed from Epidemic Sound. RELATED TOPICS:Misattribution of Arousal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misattribution_of_arousalGame Theory & (ir)rationality: https://larspsyll.wordpress.com/2025/02/15/what-is-wrong-with-game-theory/Swagless Games: https://www.polygon.com/code-vein-2-swagless-game/Jeff Vogel GDC talk about serving a market gap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stxVBJem3Rs&t=1746sTynan Sylvester GDC talk on the idea reservoir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdqhHKjepiE&t=3113s Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.