This was the topic of my talk at the Nasscom Game Developer Conference 2014 (Pune).
I was heavily jet-lagged after an insanely long flight from Montreal to Bangalore. And then I rushed to Pune for the GDC. Our game Dadi vs Jellies won Game of the Year on Day 1 and this talk was delivered on the morning of Day 2.
The talk is about an hour long (35 minute presentation followed by Q&A). The video is broken down into four parts and I am also adding the slide deck at the bottom for convenience.
Part 1:
- I flip the order and start by asking questions to the audience
- I admit to being Ivankov Dimitrovich
- We discuss babies and where they come from
- Design challenges on live games are discussed
- Demographics and unexpected users
Part 2:
- Design challenges on live games continued
- Users behave in odd ways
- It’s alive and behaving in a strange way!
- We discuss design skills for running live games
- Become friends with data (Star Trek: TNG reference thrown in)
- Become the voice of the player
- Learn to experiment – correctly
- Learn to balance
- Create an arsenal – playbooks!
- Be Pragmatic
Part 3:
- Q&A
Part 4:
- Q&A continues
Slides:
Designing for Live Games