GameMakersToolkit

Playlist (March 2020)

Hey everybody. Time for this month's Playlist - that's three mini reviews of games I've been playing recently. You can watch it as a video, above, or read it as an article, below. Up to you! 

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

So this month saw the release of Ori and the Will of the Wisps: the long-time-coming sequel to the gorgeous and memorable Ori and the Blind Forest....

School of Stealth, Episode 1

Hello! 

After finishing my Gloo gun video, I decided I wanted to finally make a GMTK episode about stealth games.

So I wrote a script called "What Makes a Good Stealth Game", recorded it, and then... threw it all away. 

I realised that there was no way I could sum up an entire genre - one that encapsulates everything from Splinter Cell to Untitled Goose Game to Alien Isolation to The Swindle - with one, pithy "do these 5 things" video, without it being completely s...

Reading List (March 2020)

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing okay during this scary Coronavirus pandemic. 

I wanted to get the reading list out to you a bit earlier this month, as I’m sure many of you will be stuck inside, either self-isolating or social distancing. I know I am: I have a heart condition, which means it’s probably not a great idea for me to get the coronavirus, and so I’m staying indoors for the forseeables.

I also wanted to say: for many of you, your financial situation mi...

Hey, you! What makes a good stealth game?

So, the next video I'm going to be working on is something I've been meaning to do for ages: "what makes a good stealth game?". What's so awesome about zipping across the rooftops in Dishonored, shooting out candles in Thief, storming bases in MGS V, and peeking under doors in Chaos Theory?

I've got plenty of ideas, but wanted to get your thoughts while I'm knee-deep in the research process!

I'm especially interested in unique solutions to stealth design. Two examples are ECHO (a ...

Out now - The Genius of Prey's Gloo Cannon

Hello!

So I've been doing lots of really big, in-depth videos lately. Time for something a bit lighter: a quick-fire ode to Prey's amazing immersive sim weapon: the Gloo cannon. Lemme know what you think! Available to the world tomorrow!

Two months into 2020 - a few GMTK updates

Hey all! So we’re two months through 2020, and I thought it was time to check in and let you know what’s been happening.

The channel

So the first video of 2020, The Two Types of Random, was a tremendous success! It lead to loads of new views (700,000 at time of writing) and subscribers, and led to articles on sites like 2020-03-03 15:42:58 +0000 UTC View Post

Playlist (February 2020)

Hello! Time for your new Playlist video, with three reviews of games I've played recently. This month we've got simulated pixels, magic signage, and fancy foxes.

Noita

So, Noita is an interesting game. It’s a Spelunky style roguelike platformer. This time with a focus on ranged warfare, as you use magic wands to cast spells at bad guys. But there’s one thing that real...

How Level Design Can Tell a Story?

Hello everyone! New video - finally! Been a crazy month but glad to get this one out. That's three 20-ish minute videos in 2020, so gonna try something a bit shorter next time I think! 

Cheers, 

Mark

24 hour exclusive - How Level Design Can Tell a Story

Hello! Gosh this took far longer than I wanted it to. But glad to finally have it out. This one is about how to tell stories in level design, but going beyond just skeletons and messages written in blood! Hope you like it, and any feedback or errors you notice before its full launch tomorrow would be wonderful

Working on thumbnails, description, cards etc now!

Mark

Reading List (February 2020)

Hello! Sorry for the radio silence for much of this month. It’s been a busy one.

I took a brief Valentine’s holiday, spent a couple days at a studio to consult on an upcoming game I can’t name, and hopped the train to London to be a judge for a prestigious award that I, uh, also can’t name! 

That was all happily in planned into the schedule.

What I couldn’t plan for was a member of my family suddenly becoming gravely ill, requiring multiple trips to various ho...

Making Shovel Knight's Signature Moves | Game Maker's Toolkit

Hello!

So my second episode of 2020 is about the four characters in Shovel Knight. And it's available now, on YouTube. 

I had been wanting to make an episode about Shovel Knight's design for a while, but had been waiting for the arrival of the fourth and final hero, King Knight. After some lengthy delays, he finally came out in December 2019.

I originally intended for the video to be about level design...

Early Video and Thumbnail Poll - Making Shovel Knight's Signature Moves

Hello!

So, the new video is about the four heroes of the finally-finished Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. Specifically: their signature moves, and how developer Yacht Club Games designed them. From Shovel Knight's downward thrust to King Knight's bash-and-spin combo. 

You can watch it here (now without audio errors!) - any feedback would be most welcome before the video's full launch on Monday. 

No...

February's Game Club - Free 2 Multiplay

Hey everyone. So if you haven't already seen, the GMTK GameClub has come back from the dead over on the Discord channel. It's now being run by our lovely mods - Slam, Adam, and Sandra - and is all about playing a bunch of games around a common theme and then chatting about them.

For February, we're going to "explore successful multiplayer games that deviate from their genre giants and see what sets them apart". So how does Awesomenauts stand out among DOTA 2 and League of Legends? And w...

Reading List (January 2020)

Hi everyone! Welcome to the first Reading List for the new year. 

Starting with this one, I’m going to reduce the number of videos and articles from 30 to 25. To be perfectly honest, I would get to making the reading list each month and check how many things I’d saved… to find about 25 pieces. Then I’d have to quickly search for a few more to pad out the numbers!

As always, quality is better than quantity and I’d rather serve up 25 things I’ve actually read and en...

Playlist (January 2020)

What do you get if you combine a king, a robot, and a baby? It's this month's playlist! That's three mini reviews of the games I've played, for your viewing pleasure. And if you don't feel like watching, you can read the whole thing below...

Death Stranding

Oh boy, where to begin with Death Stranding? As the latest game from Hideo Kojima - the ambitious auteur behind the ...

Reminder: The GMTK Discord exists!

Hello! This is just a quick reminder that the GMTK Discord is a thing that exists and is good. It's a chill, low key, well moderated, and friendly space to talk about games, current events, game jams, game design, and game development. 

There's also Game Club, now hosted by the moderators. It's now about exploring a general topic through the lens of different games. Right now, people are chatting about the idea of "alone together" (multiplayer modes in singleplayer games), by discu...

Making Two Types of Random

(Pictured above: an alternative thumbnail design that didn't get used)

Hello!

So this week I released the first episode of 2020. It’s a big investigation into randomness in game design, and looks at input and output randomness, plus the different ways randomness is used.

It's actually done amazingly well! It's gained half a million views in less than a week, which is a 144% increas...

The Two Types of Random | Game Maker's Toolkit

Hello! It's time for the first episode of 2020 - a massive investigation into all things random. In this video I'll explore the various uses of randomness, talk about the two types of random, and explore the pitfalls of using both brands of luck.

I hope you dig it - it was a huge project with lots of research and tonnes of editing work. But I'm pleased with the result and I think it sets a really good precedent for the new year's work. Like I said in the 2019 recap, the goal for this ye...

24 hour exclusive - The Two Types of Random

Hello!

The new episode of GMTK is finally here! After a much needed Xmas break and then a particularly gruelling editing process on the new video, it's finally done. Almost - this version doesn't have the Patreon end screen and some final edits like all the game tags and sources.

Thanks again for your help on the GMTK Workshop. Sorry to those who wrote in messages after I started editing - I had to give myself a cut off point or else I could work on the script forever. I'll do bet...

Introducing GMTK Workshop - Help with upcoming episodes

Hello!

So, something I've wanted to do for a while now is create a space on Patreon where willing participants (on $5+ tier) can help me out with upcoming episodes of the show. Especially in the densely packed, example-filled, educational videos.

The idea is that on certain videos I will show you stuff that I've been working on and ask for feedback, more examples and ideas, and so on.

I have to admit that I find this quite difficult. To put unfinished work out there...

Mark's Game of the Year picks for 2019 | Playlist

Hello! 

So, no playlist this month. To be honest, I'm just playing stuff I've already talked about. I finished up Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and am now back to Disco Elysium.

But that's okay, because it's game of the year time! I went back through every game I played in the last 12 months and tried to choose my 10 absolute favourite ones. 

It's a slightly odd list, with some notable omissions and some surprising entries. I hope you dig it! And if you don't want ...

Reading List End-Of-Year Special 2019

Hello!

So, like last year, I wanted to turn the final Reading List of the year into a big recap of 2019's games. So I've gathered together the best writing and videos on the game’s stand out releases. 

There's stuff on the music of Sayonara Wild Hearts, the design of Star Wars Jedi, the art of Gato Roboto, the politics of Call of Duty, and much more.

Some of these pieces were on previous re...

2019 in review

Hi everyone! Mark here.

So, at the end of each year I like to share with you some thoughts and statistics about my last 12 months’ worth of work.

I think it’s really important to regularly take a step back and see what’s working and what’s not - and use that to help shape the future direction of what I’m doing.

So I hope you’ll come with me and enjoy this peek behind the scenes of the GMTK empire!

Now, 2019 was one of those years where January simultaneousl...

The most innovative games of the decade

Hello! 

So as you should know by now, every December I dedicate my last video to the most innovative game of that year. I've been doing this since 2015, and just released the video for 2019, celebrating Baba Is You.

But with the decade now over, I thought it might be fun to think back to the games that came out before I started GMTK, and retroactively add some games to my "most innova...

48hr exclusive - The Most Innovative Game of 2019 is...

Hello!

So, as usual, my last video of the year is on the most innovative game from the last 12 months. In the past I've done Her Story, Event[0], Snake Pass, and 2019-12-07 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post

Playlist (November 2019)

Busy month (as usual, these days) but found some time to check out two big releases.

Cheers! Mark

Reading List (November 2019)

Hello! How’s it going? 

You’re getting the reading list a few days early as I’m popping to Essen, Germany for a couple days at the end of November to talk at the Next Level Festival. Should be fun! 

Here’s some stuff that I’ve enjoyed this month (or, in some cases, am saving to read on the flight!)

Top Pick

[Watch | CC | 13 mins] 2019-11-25 11:27:24 +0000 UTC View Post

Patreon Preview - How Accessible Were This Year's Games?

Hello! 

So, a few weeks back I had this silly idea to make a video looking at the accessibility options in this year's biggest games. I wanted to make a follow up to Designing for Disability, basically, looking at the strides the industry has made in 2019.

It turned into a pretty huge project! I ended up getting and playing 50 games, from Death Stranding to Untitled Goose Game to Pokemon Sword to FIFA 20. And this is what I've found out.

Hope you find it interesting. I ...

Analysing 5 Years of YouTube Stats

Hey everyone!

So, with GMTK turning five years old, this seemed like the perfect time to do a big overview of the channel’s numbers to see what worked, what didn’t, and what can be learned for the next five years of GMTK.

This is going to be a big, detailed, nerd-tastic article and so I won’t be offended if you skip this one. But I personally find this stuff fascinating and it’s really important sometimes to take a step back, and figure out where I’m going with all of th...

Game Maker's Toolkit turns 5

Hello!

Wow, I can't quite believe it. Today marks the 5th anniversary of Game Maker's Toolkit.

On November 6th, 2014, I released my first (proper) video to YouTube: a video essay about adaptive soundtracks. If it did well, I remember thinking, I might be able to make a few more of these things.

It's now half a decade later and I've made about 124 of these things, ran three Game Jams, spoken all over the world, created several sub-series, interviewed various developers, and t...