The Game Design Hacks
By The Game Design Hacks
Tune in as Dale and Tom breakdown design decisions on all kinds of games, prototype designs live, and discuss game development.
The Game Design HacksSep 22, 2021
Mario Golf Should Have Been Better (Season Finale)
In the season finale, Mario Golf underwhelms Dale and Tom with its lofty promises - but it takes Dale a moment to realise it. Also, we decide which was the best game of the season.
0:10:19 - What Are We Playing?
0:22:56 - Mario Golf Diagnosis
0:54:30 - The Best Game Design of the Season
Torn Apart - an RPG based on Tommy Wiseau's The Room (Design Challenge)
Tom channels his inner Tommy bringing a rendition of Tommy Wiseau's The Room into tabletop form to meet Dale's challenge.
Is Fez Still Good? (and E3) (Diagnosis)
Dale and Tom look at E3 2021 and decide to play Fez instead - but does it hold up or it does it fold up?
Yeah, nah, it holds up so we gush about it and break it down a bit and also E3 wasn't that bad but there wasn't any Switch Pro and is this description still going and wasn't it third person a moment ago?
Listen for E3 hot takes and a Fez mechanical review.
Everything Wrong with Sonic Generations (Diagnosis)
Dale and Tom try to figure out where the feeling changed in Sonic's 3D games, also we discuss Nintendo Indie World really, really late.
0:00:59 - Nintendo Indie World
0:22:35 - What Are We Playing?
0:39:45 - Sonic 3D Diagnosis
Playcast: The Athenian Philosophical Olympic Pentathlon (Non-random Ancient Greek Court Intrigue)
May the best boast win - Dale and Tom are joined by Milly, Kayleigh and Rocco to play an Olympic Pentathlon where the ultimate sportsman is the player who can best describe their Olympic feats.
Gardenscapes' Seven Thousand Levels ain't A Short Hike's One (Diagnosis)
Tom addicts himself to free-to-play mobile game Gardenscapes while Dale enjoys the infinitely more conquerable A Short Hike.
Design Challenge: Non-random Ancient Greek Court Intrigue
Dale answers Tom's design challenge: Ancient Greece, non-random and Court Intrigue. Meanwhile, Nintendo goes Direct and Stadia goes to shit.
Is Hades well designed? (Diagnosis)
Tom inspects Hades' procedural generation, meta and narrative design before setting Dale his first design challenge.
2020: The Best and Worst Game Mechanics
Dale and Tom dive into the best and worst game mechanics from the year that was 2020.
What's wrong with Super Mario Party? (Diagnosis)
Dale rips apart the board play of Super Mario Party and while Tom dissects the text display for Planescape: Torment.