Velocimancer Games

Did I mention that I've started in a new department at my day job? It's true! It's a writing-centric job, which I balked from for a long time, but a tiny amount of time in, it hasn't soured me on writing yet.  If anything, my time on this Earth has led me to think that perhaps a balance can be struck, between being ground beneath the heel of capitalism (in this one, particular instance) and bEiNg FuLfIlLeD, I can hone my writing skills without burning out.  Famous last words! But anyhow, that's one reason that I've been able to catch back up on my podcasts, stay atop my theatre's agenda, and write these very articles, which no one reads.  I don't actually mind that no one reads them by the way.  No, honest! People see my plays and talk to me about them and it makes me want to die, whether they're being positive or negative, so frfr it's nice to just have a quiet little corner of Al Gore's Internet where I get my reps in working both sides of

Let’s change gears a bit this Mechanic Monday, shall we? I’ve just realized that the format of this site has calcified over time into a particularly sleep-deprived recipe blog, but for unused game designs.  Truly, my fingers are clamped firmly on the pulse of these manic times.  I hope all of you are enjoying these enthusiastic mental rambles, in such a modern format. I just taught a playwriting class yesterday.  I’ve already completed the regular 7-week session, but as it’s a class on playwriting, they are expected to write a play, and yesterday was our midway-point checkin out of the two-to-three months they have post-class to get out a draft.  I’ll meet up with this group one last time in January to read from their completed drafts and to do a little post-morteming of how the process went for them.  Some of them already have drafts completed, some of them may not have one done by the final deadline.  Talking with a few of the students after the session had formally ended, I impres

Ho man, I get to do so little game design these days.  The busy summer, my theatre, auditioning, hockey, weddings, homeowner diy stuff (yes yes some real champagne problems in there) it has been a taxing… uh… indeterminate length of time.  I’ve been tired for as long as I can remember.  I never did get anything together for that September design challenge, though I did plenty of useful scribbling, and it did scratch the itch a little.  I just haven’t been able to keep up a weekly post for this blog like I’d prefer, or fill notebooks with idea atop idea.  The world has such big problems, and this is such a small thing, but I still feel that tiny absence.  You know? I find myself thinking mostly of my likeliest designs.  Amberlodge always calls out to me, like a comfortable, thinky world, just a dream away.  Runtime Error & Frameshift Mutation could truly be the kind of game I most like to play (which is, of course, very different from good or popular).  And of course, the game th