As a game designer, I've been approached by many companies that want to make "Social Games." You must admit that the whole genre of "Social Games" is still relatively new. So even though I've been making games for decades, not much of that time can be applied to  designing product specifically for this new medium.

But as much as I love to play games, I had been resisting these new social games. I was afraid that they would take up so much of my time that my day would be gone and I'd have nothing to show for it. Nevertheless, I felt I needed to educate myself about this hot new medium. So I took the plunge and played a few games.

I learned a couple of things. First of all, I discovered that a lot of these games use a similar template. With patience, some investment (often requiring real money) and more than a little begging, you can take something small and make it big. Which is all fine and dandy, but where's the challenge? Who are you competing against? What risks are you taking? What is the strategy? How do you win?

As I see it, these aren't games - these are just digital toys, like the Sims. You can do what ever you want. But there's no indication that one course of action is going to have any different impact on the course of the "game" than any other - it's all just personal preference. It's a digital version of playing with paper dolls - and if you play long enough, you'll get more to play with.

And I guess that's what annoys me the most about these "games." There's no goal - no challenge. What it is is just an opportunity to annoy your friends with endless updates, requests, begging, etc. Which appears to be very profitable for the publishers of these products. But I want more. I want something that challenges my mind.

And believe it or not, I think I know how to do that within the network that exists. And if anyone wants to do that, you know where I am.

Labels: games, social games, toys

In the classic film Mary Poppins, the popular Nanny states:

In every job that must be done there is an element of fun. You find the fun and snap! The job's a game.

Truer words were never spoken. Believe it or not, in every aspect of our lives, we make games. We set goals and objectives, we make rules, we congratulate ourselves when we are successful.

Case in point. When I take my dog for a walk, the dog has a habit of wanting to stop at every "interesting" stump, bush or pebble along our route - something that is counterproductive to the whole walking thing. I wondered how many steps I'd go before we'd have to stop again. And then I wanted to see what the most consecutive steps we'd take before stopping again. From there I'd have to introduce rules - what constitutes a full stop, don't "drag" the dog, etc (not that I'm the sort of person who'd do that.) So my simple chore of walking the dog became a game.

Most games we play come from such humble beginnings - goals or objectives are established (get the ball into that basket), rules are incorporated (you cannot walk and carry the ball) and boundaries are established (the game ends after a specific period of time).

The trick is how to make the game interesting so people have fun while playing it. Sure, my dog walking game is convenient as it requires no additional equipment to play while I'm walking the dog, but I'm not about to drop everything so the dog and I can go out and play the dog walking game! ;) It's a fine line.

So what are your game expereiences? Do you have a boring game that needs a little spicing up? Let me know.

Labels: Dog, games, goals, rules, Walking the dog

Hey folks, here's some things for you to consider.

There's a new gamecreature cartoon up. It's been up since the beginning of the week, but I forgot to mention it. Sorry!

I've added five new games to the arcade. There's something for everybody - go check them out!

The much anticipated fourth film in the Indiana Jones series premieres today, to mixed reviews. I probably will go see it, but it's going to be hard to beat the impact of Iron Man thus far.

Finally, it's Memorial Day weekend, and it looks like we'll have great weather for cooking out and enjoying the backyard. Which needs to be mowed again. Oy!

Labels: arcade, games, Indiana Jones

I just added high scores to both Critter Crunch and Catch of the Day. Give them a try and see how you stack up against players from around the world!

Labels: arcade, catch of the day, Critter Crunch, games

Just added 5 new games to the arcade. Check them out!

Labels: arcade, games

I've added six more games to the Gamecreature Arcade. Why am I doing this? Well, I know how you folks like to play games and even at the rate of 1 game every week or two, I just can't do it all myself. I hope you'll give them a try and let me know what you think.

Labels: arcade, games

It seems that I left out an important piece of code in yesterday's Critter Crunch game. The part that was meant to increase the number of bugs was left off, making for a pretty sedate game. That part has been fixed. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Labels: Critter Crunch, games

Ah, the struggle with programming continues.

But we're getting results. I proudly present you with Critter Crunch, the latest addition to the Gamecreature Arcade. With each of these modest creations, the gulf between what I want to do and what I can actually accomplish with my meagre knowledge of Flash Actionscript gets smaller.

Still, I welcome any assistance anyone out there has to offer. If you've made a game that you'd like to see in the arcade or are a programming wiz that couldn't come up with a game to save your life, I'd like to hear from you. Leave a comment or send me a message. It'll be fun!

Labels: arcade, games, Programming

Due to popular demand, I've expanded my game page. It's still not ready for prime time, but I've updated and expanded the links to make it easier to reach from the home page and the comic page. There's currently 10 games there for your enjoyment with more to come! Check it out here.

Oh, and here's this week's cartoon. Will the fun ever stop?

Labels: Gamecreature, games

It's finished! Try your luck at the new fishing fun game. Let me know your high scores! Play now!

Labels: fishing fun, games

Just a quick post to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, etc. etc. I hope you all had a good time. GC has found a new way of re-gifting. I'll post later this week to comment on some new games I found. In the meantime, feel free to discuss among yourselves.

Labels: Christmas, games, New Year