Hello friends! It's the last reading list of 2020. Hope these hand-picked articles and videos keep you busy over the Christmas season.
As always, you can send me stuff that you think is cool on Twitter, on the Discord, in the comments on these articles, or just shout them in the vague direction of the United Kingdom.
Designer Notes
[Watch | CC | 35 mins]
Hey everybody.
It's that time of year again, when I let you know my 10 favourite games of the year. It's always tricky to pick just ten when I played so many, but I had to go with my gut and pick the games that made me smile, the games I couldn't put down, and the games I couldn't stop thinking about.
I'll do the ten, then drop some honourable mentions. Okay? Let's start this list, which is in no particular order. Watch it above, or read it below. Your choice.
The La...
2020-12-24 16:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello!
As usual, my last video for the year is about the most innovative game I played that year. For 2020 I'm picking... Watch Dogs: Legion, for its inventive "play as anyone" system. I wanted to break down how the system works - but also, importantly, explore how it fails from a game design perspective.
Out worldwide tomorrow!
Mark
2020-12-17 13:06:19 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello!
2020 has been a bit of a bizarre year, to say the least. As a deadly pandemic rages across the world, we've all ended up spending way more time indoors than anyone really wants to.
I mean: I'm a huge introvert and love being at home more than most (and I get to spend this time with my best friend - my fiancé) but even I've gotten cabin fever this year. I want to travel, go to the cinema, see friends, go to museums! And I'm super excited to see that a vaccine has been made,...
2020-12-16 13:58:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello!
Sorry for the delay - don't blame me, blame Cyberpunk 2077 :P
Just like last year, I wanted to do a video where I looked at the accessibility options, design, and oversights of the year's biggest games. So I played more than 50 of the year's major releases and looked at everything from controller remapping to subtitle size in order to report on the overall strides of this part of the business.
I hope you find it interesting - I certainly enjoyed researching it! <...
2020-12-10 13:08:46 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello! This month, your playlist is a PlayStation 5 special. I've been really enjoying this new console, and it's kinda reignited my love of games. And so I've been slightly obsessed with PS5 games since I got the system. Here's a quick run-down of three games I've been playing on it. Watch it above, or read on...
Demon's Souls (PS5)
First up is Demon's Souls, which is a ...
2020-11-28 15:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone! Hope everyone's doing okay - I've had a good November, due to the million subscriber milestone and the new consoles. But, still stuck inside so hopefully these articles and videos will keep you occupied. Speak soon.
Designer Notes
[Watch | CC | 21 mins] How Alien Isolation Survived its Difficult Development - Noclip talks to Creative Assembly about th...
2020-11-26 14:28:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello!
So, this was supposed to go up when I hit a million subscribers, but it ended up taking a little more time than expected.
Mostly because I wasn't quite sure what I wanted the video to be!
For some context: Back in 2016 I decided that I wanted to make a GMTK episode about Zelda dungeons. But to research it properly would involve playing through about 15 very long games. So I turned my research process into a series called Boss Keys - with the intention of m...
2020-11-19 09:17:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello! GMTK has now reached a whopping one million subscribers. Here's a quick thank you video to mark the occasion.
As I say in the video, none of this would be possible without you: the Patrons. You make this happen, you make my dream job possible. Thank you so much. You're my favourites, don't tell the others.
Mark
2020-11-16 21:55:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Review code provided by Ubisoft
I was excited about Watch Dogs: Legion for two main reasons. One: the game is set in London, which makes a change from the usual American settings of open world games. And two: the game was directed by Clint Hocking.
Clint is a game designer who I respect a lot. He directed the best Splinter Cell game, Chaos Theory, and then made one of my all-time favourite games: Far Cry 2. I've also watched all his super smart GDC talks, and regularly qu...
2020-11-03 09:41:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello! Time for this month's playlist video.
Should have some big releases to chat about in November (I've just started Watch Dogs Legion and there are plenty more games on the way). For now, though - some indies.
If you prefer, you can read this video as an article below.
Disc Room (Switch, Steam)
2020-10-31 18:01:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
When it comes to a power fantasy, should players have to earn the right to feel awesome and masterful, or should the game deliver that to players automatically? I explore this issue in the latest episode of GMTK.
Love ya
Mark
2020-10-28 11:22:19 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello everyone!
The clocks have turned back, the leaves have changed colour, the shops are full of Halloween and Christmas stuff. The end of the year is fast approaching. So settle down with a cup of hot chocolate and 30-odd highly recommended articles and videos, picked by yours truly.
Design of the Times
[Watch | CC | 8 mins] How to Write a Game Design Document in 2020<...
2020-10-27 11:27:16 +0000 UTC View PostHello everyone!
Very soon, GMTK will hit a staggering, mind blowing, unbelievable 1 million YouTube subscribers. In this article, I want to talk about how that happened - and what's next.
So at the end of 2019, I saw that I had reached 715,000 subscribers, which seemed pretty close to the big milestone. And so I wondered if I worked really hard, by making videos that attracted new audiences and then convinced them to subscribe, could I get the 285,000 needed before the end of 2020...
2020-10-20 10:36:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello!
An interesting option at the start of Crash Bandicoot 4 inspired me to think about the whole concept of "lives" in games. Are they still relevant, or just an outdated relic of the arcade era?
Video goes global tomorrow
2020-10-14 07:34:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello!
My game history series is back! This time, on my home turf with a look at the British games business. Hope you find it interesting, whether you're from here or not!
Mark
2020-09-29 12:45:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello everyone!
I've had a good month for gaming. Which is to say that I played about 2 hours of the Avengers game and got so demoralised about the state of modern games that I flinched so hard I ended up in 2018 and just played older games instead. Though, with one notable exception.
Let's get started. Watch it as a video above, or read it below.
Frostpunk
2020-09-24 09:46:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hello! Hope you're doing well.
It feels like the games biz is really waking up - we've had big games like Spelunky 2, Mario All-Stars, and Marvel, and of course all the news on the next Xbox and PlayStation. Exciting stuff!
But for now, here's 25 articles and videos that I reckon you'll really enjoy.
Critical Hit
[Watch | CC | 5 mins] Carrion Is A REVERSE-HORR...
2020-09-22 11:01:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello!
Goals and rewards can be a great way to motivate players to learn, try out features, and play longer - but in certain circumstances, they can actually backfire on you. Let's jump into the psychology of motivation.
This one took a lot longer than I was hoping or expecting. I actually started and cancelled two completely different videos before this, then hit a major writer's block on the script for this one before finally completing it! Argh!
Not sure what's next - but...
2020-09-12 11:06:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone. Mark here with your playlist for August. As always this is a quick look at three games I've been playing recently. And, so, without further ado let's jump right into it. Video above, article below. Which to choose? You decide!
Fall Guys
So, unless you've been living under a rock for the past month, you've probably played - or at least seen - Fall Guys....
2020-08-30 14:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello everyone!
So, in case you missed it, I ran an experiment in August. I've never had adverts on GMTK videos, and was curious just how much money I was leaving on the table by making this decision. So for the month of August, I put adverts on the front of every GMTK video.
My rules for doing this were that I would only use a single skippable video ad, I would donate a percentage of the profits to charity, and I would be fully transparent about what happened, here on Patreon. 2020-08-28 08:32:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello!
Hope everyone is doing okay. I've just come back from a much-needed break. We stayed in a cottage in Wales with no wi-fi and no phone service and it was great! We just read books, watched movies, went for huge walks, and saw waterfalls and castles.
Back now, and so here's 25-odd new articles and videos to enjoy!
Designer Notes
[Watch | CC | 27 mins] ...
2020-08-26 06:15:49 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
I wanted to give some behind the scenes info on my new video, The Games That Designed Themselves.
I came up with the idea for this episode when listening to the interview with Crypt of the Necrodancer designer Ryan Clark, 2020-08-19 06:08:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone! Mark here. I just wanted to give you the heads up that my wonderful mod team is running a GMTK Smash Bros tourney over on the Patreon Discord. As always, you just need to connect your Discord account to your Patreon account to gain access. Or click here for more details.
I won't be playing as I don't have Ultimate - but I am pretty active in the Discord in general so swing by if you want to chat about games...
2020-08-15 15:44:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello! This video is all about the creative process, and about how great game ideas can emerge from the ether. Lots of fascinating examples!
This is the ad-free version for Patrons. It will be released to the public later today.
Cheers!
Mark
2020-08-14 09:09:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi!
So I've been playing a bit of Ghost of Tsushima lately, and I noticed this really lovely visual effect: whenever a title card (like a level name) disappears off screen, it breaks into a pile of cherry blossom that is swept off the screen by a strong wind.
Wow! I thought it was really neat and wanted to figure out if I could make something similar in After Effects. Not for anything in ...
2020-08-04 11:07:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello! Hope you're doing okay. Here's three things for you all to know
One!
Later today I'm releasing the above video, where I chat to former Naughty Dog designer Evan Hill about the creation of a Last of Us 2 level. It's pretty early in the game and doesn't have any major spoilers - though you may wish to experience the level yourself.
This was really fun. It's a very different type of video (though with the usual GMTK polish!), but I think it's super...
2020-08-03 14:37:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello! In this episode of Game Maker's Toolkit, I chat to The Last of Us Part II designer Evan Hill about the creation of the game's best level. As a $5 Patron, you're able to watch the full hour-long video, above!
2020-08-01 17:00:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello!
So, I'm doing something a bit different this month for the playlist. Usually I talk about the games I've been playing but with the game jam taking up the majority of my time in July, I haven't had much of a chance to play the new releases outside of about half an hour of Ghost of Tsushima.
So instead, and in light of the fact that most of us are still spending the majority of time at home - I wanted to offer some suggestions of games that you can play with a partner, ...
2020-07-31 10:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostHi everyone. I want to run something by you.
For the entire history of Game Maker's Toolkit, I've never run proper adverts on my videos.
I say proper because I do use "Display Ads". These are the simple image adverts that are shown to the right of the video, and only on desktop. This is simply because there is evidence that YouTube favours monetised videos when recommending content. They also make the channel about £800 a month, which is a very nice bonus.