GameMakersToolkit

10 Tips for Writing for Retention

Hi everyone!

My most recent video, "How to Steal Like a Game Designer", is receiving lots of views, which is always good. But more than that, the stat I'm really pleased with is "Av­er­age per­cent­age viewed", which is currently sat at 58.4%.

2023-02-20 07:14:45 +0000 UTC View Post

How To Steal Like a Game Designer

When it comes to mechanics, a great source of inspiration is other video games. But how do you make sure those features will gel will the game you're actually making?

Hope you dig it!

Mark

Early Access - How To Steal Like a Game Designer

Hey Patrons!

So, as promised, my plan for 2023 is to bounce between episodes of Developing and episodes of GMTK (or Boss Keys or whatever) from month to month, in an effort to finish! the! game!, while making sure the channel stays alive!

So for the first GMTK ep of 2023, here's an episode about analysing game mec...

Early access- Making puzzles for my indie magnet game

Since the last episode of developing, I've been hard at work on making puzzles for my untitled indie magnet game. But was I able to make 30 levels, as promised?

As I said in the year end review, my goal for 2023 is to finish this magnet game. And the way I intend to do that is to alternate between game making and video ...

What I Played in January

Hey Patrons!

For this month's bonus video, I wanted to try something a bit more conversational. A chatty video where I talk about the games I've been playing. Which means it's a bit like the old Playlist videos I used to make... but with more waffle and 5 times longer. Whoops!

Lemme know what you think!

Mark...

Reading List (January 2023)

Happy new year!

This January I've been hard at work on Untitled Magnet Game (a new episode of Developing will be coming the first week of February). But I've still found time to read and watch loads of awesome content about game design, development, and culture. 

Here's what I've got for you this month:

2022 Year in Review

Hello everyone. It’s time for the annual “year in review” post, where I take an analytical look at my last 12 months’ worth of work, and see what worked, what didn’t, and what could be improved for next year.

So, after a disappointing year of stats in 2021, this year... has been even worse! GMTK had the lowest...

Reading List (December 2022)

Merry Christmas! My gift to you this year... a bunch of awesome articles and videos on all things gaming. Hope you have a wonderful Xmas break, if you celebrate that sort of thing - and I'll be back soon with a big run-down of the year's stats and data.

The Design of Games

[Read] 2022-12-25 12:59:01 +0000 UTC View Post

This year's most innovative game is...

Hey! 

Every year, I dedicated my last video to the most innovative game of the last 12 months. This year's pick is... well, watch to find out.

Cheers

Mark

Bonus Video: Game of the Year 2022

Hey Patrons! As usual, your December bonus video is a look back at the best new games I played this year. 2022 has been a bit of a slow year for new releases, I reckon, but I've still found a lot to enjoy. So please click the video above to see what I picked.

Or, if you prefer, you can read it as an article below:

The GMTK thumbnails you don't see

Hello Patrons!

GMTK is quite famous for its video thumbnails. I put a lot of time into making these little rectangles look attractive and click-able. Each one could be a little work of art!

But... the thumbnail you see on YouTube is usually not where the thumb started. Every thumbnail goes through a lot of iterati...

GMTK Mini - Does Fortnite Exploit Your FOMO?

Hey! I really enjoyed making the GMTK Mini on God of War, last month. It was a nice opportunity to talk about something topical, and it was a fun challenge to make a video in a short time period.

So I've done another one! Playing Fortnite's world-ending season finale at the weekend inspired me to talk about the way Epic...

The Unity Tutorial (If You Hate Tutorials)

Hello!

Unity is an amazingly powerful game engine - but it can be hard to learn. Especially if you find tutorials hard to follow and prefer to learn by doing. If that sounds like you then this tutorial will get you acquainted with the basics - and then give you some goals to learn the rest by yourself.

The tutoria...

24 hour preview - Unity Tutorial

Hello Patrons. 

I will soon be releasing a Unity tutorial video. The idea is to teach people the basics concepts of Unity, and then let them figure out the rest on their own! I explain it all in the beginning of the video.

Should hopefully be out tomorrow, though I'll be looking for some last minute feedback!...

Bonus Video: November Playlist

Hey! Your bonus video for November is a playlist, featuring some games I've been playing in the last few months. I had way more games than I could fit in, so I'm sure I'll be back in the new year with more mini reviews.

Cheers

Mark

Reading List (November 2022)

Yo! 

We're barrelling towards the end of the year with an unsettling pace. But at least this cold weather gives us an excuse to wrap up warm indoors, and watch some YouTube. 

Here's 20-odd articles and videos I can recommend from November.

The Design of Games

[Watch | CC | 5 ...

GMTK Mini - Why do God of War's Characters Keep Spoiling Puzzles?

Hey Patrons!

I wanted to try something new today. I was interested in the current game design discourse surrounding God of War's chatty companions - and how they have a nasty habit of spoiling the game's puzzles. 

So I wanted to chip in and give my thoughts. But it usually takes a couple weeks to formulate an...

The World Design of Elden Ring

Hey Patrons!

Since the release of Elden Ring earlier this year, I knew I wanted to do a video about its world design, similar to my stuff on Hollow Knight and Boss Keys.

Now, after 200 hours of playing, the purchase of a new PC, and many script rewrites - it's finally here! Please do check it out.

Cheers

The World Design of Elden Ring - early preview and poll

Hello! 

My next video is about the world design of Elden Ring, and how going open world both helped and hindered the Soulsborne experience.

You can see it, before it goes live later this week, here on YouTube.

I'm not sure which thumbn...

Reading List (October 2022)

Hey there!

October's been a busy month - I've released videos on problem solving and Rollerdrome, and I'm close to finishing a video on Elden Ring's world design.

But there's always time for reading and watching! So here's 25-ish hand-picked articles and videos I reckon you might enjoy.

The Design of...