GMTK Reading List (December 2023)

Zelda vibes! Award speeches! Labyrinths!

Hello! I’m winding down for Christmas and New Year celebrations. And what better way to kick back and relax than with a hand-picked collection of excellent articles and videos?

Here’s to another year of excellent writing on game design, development, history, and culture.

Mark

The Design of Games

[Read] Regarding Cozy Games - "Cozy Games seem to keep, understandably, annoying people".

[Read] Doom At 30: The evolution of Doom through its first levels - "The ways it's tried to reinvent itself over the years paints a captivating portrait of a series trying to move with the times."

[Watch | 9 mins] How this game blew up with only voice chat - "Let's see how Lethal Company, a coop indie horror game, rose to Steam's top charts in only one month through their proximity chat and sound design."

[Read] Aonuma And Fujibayashi Talk Tears Of The Kingdom's Reception And Their Approach To The Timeline - "In some ways, it's a matter of vitality! When I look at Mr. Miyamoto, it's actually kind of frightening".

[Read] In praise of labyrinthine game design - "What I'm trying to do with this post isn't call for more mazes and labyrinths in games, but frame and advocate for a certain, secretive architectural sensibility".

[Watch | 28 mins] Puzzles with Soul: The Works of Tetsuya Mizuguchi - "Tetsuya Mizuguchi's games have a lot on their minds. Let's get into all of them and what Mizuguchi wants to communicate to the player."

[Watch | CC | 48 mins] Lies of P Critique - Joseph Anderson turns his attention to this year’s best Soulslike.