Are You Designing for Users or Collectors?
A while back, my family gave me some Thor shampoo. I was thrilled at the prospect of Hemsworthy locks!
Milestones Along the Open Road
Despite the dust on this blog, a lot has been happening as I stumble towards the end of 2021. here are a couple of key milestones down and a couple still to come.
Games Played: Q4 2020
I’m hip-deep in my master’s thesis at the moment, but I still want to take a few minutes to write up last quarter’s games played while it’s still “last quarter”. Who says procrastination can’t also be productive?
Games Played: 3 Quarters of Madness
At the current progression, the next Games Played update will be in a year. Since my goal is to understand my own play patterns, though, I hope it’ll be a little sooner than that. But are there even any patterns to understand?
The Design Problem of Toxic Meritocracy
I’ve been reading some excellent books from the University of Minnesota Press lately, including Shira Chess’s Ready Player Two. But the standout for me has been Christopher Paul’s The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games. How can you not love a book that makes you question your entire skill set?
Games Played: Rest of 2019
School has been a mixed blessing for my ongoing project to play more of my board games. I’ve had more Professional Reasons to play than ever before… but also less time to write and reflect on games played. That said, let’s see how the back half of 2019 went. What did I play?
1970s Gaming: Dungeons & Desktops & Dreamers
After a busy first term of school, I’ve been spending the Christmas break reading up on the history of the computer game industry. Two books have me wondering: is today’s game industry echoing the 1970s?
Back to School
I have a carefully honed self-image as a doer, not a studier. For years, I’ve avoided formal school and embraced learning on the job. So what on earth am I doing in a Master’s degree program at Tampere University?
Playing My Games: Q2 2019
Previously on Playing My Games: I have a lot of favorite board games! I’m collecting less and playing my games more! I’m keeping track of what I play and writing about it every few months! So, how’s it going now that the second quarter is all wrapped up?
Playing My Games: Q1 2019
One of my mantras for this year has been “Have less, use more.” Instead of accumulating new things, I’m trying to enjoy new experiences and the things I already have. One of the ways to do that is actually playing my games.