Tag: games
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Some Favourite Daily Mini Games
I feel like the concept of daily mini games really came to prominence in those pandemic-hazed days of 2021, thanks to Wordle. Since then, my daily game habits have changed as I hunt for fresh, challenging puzzles. I enjoy finding games that are quick to play but mentally engaging enough to add a little spark…
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“If you like to play [computer game], then try [book]”
If you like to play [computer game], then try [book]. That’s the simple premise of a post from the imitable Powell’s Books, back in 2018. In Console-free camping, for a bunch of popular computer games, they recommend a book you might like. The list, for posterity (non-commission, non-tracking links to Powell’s):
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The Long Game: Civilization II and Sim City’s Magnasanti
After ten years of playing the same Civilization II campaign (my favourite game ever), Reddit user Lycerius has ended up creating a dystopian semi-self-sustaining world, where the three remaining “super-nations” are in a constant state of espionage and nuclear war. The details of Lycerius’ “hellish nightmare” world are absolutely fascinating: the military stalemate; the 1700-year…
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Defining a Game
In a talk lambasting what has become the most popular video game in America–Zynga‘s Facebook-based FarmVille*–we are shown how it fails to meet a single one of late sociologistĀ Roger Caillois’ six criteria for defining games (as laid-out in in his 1961 book, Man, Play and Games): Free from obligation, routine and responsibility. Separate from ‘real…
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The Economically-(Im)Perfect World of Online Games
Kristian Segerstrale–owner of online games company Playfish (acquired by Electronic Arts for $400m in November 2009)–discusses why online game environments are exciting places for economics research (and specifically: “how social factors influence economic decision making”): When economists try to model behavior in the real world, they’re always dealing with imperfect information. “The data is always…
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Behavioural Game Design and the Manipulation of Fun
Over the last twenty or thirty years gaming has changed almost beyond recognition. With the simultaneous growth in behavioural psychology the two fields have collided, as summarised by Microsoft games researcher John Hopson in his look at behavioural game design. Cracked summarises the article well (if not a tad sensationalised) as Five ways video games…
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How to Win at Monopoly
It appears that a couple of high-profile blogs linked to this a few years back, but it’s new to me: how to win at monopoly. Monopoly is a game of luck, strategy, and people skills. No strategy will guarantee you a win; that’s one of the reasons Monopoly is so interesting. In any given game,…