When I look back at the games that I played in 2020, a lot of them didn’t actually come out last year. Sure, a couple of them did, but most of them were either older games I finally got a chance to play or games I grew to appreciate more while stuck in lockdown. So for this year-in-review list, I’m gonna take a bit more of a personal approach. Rather than just limiting myself to new releases, I’m going to highlight the games I played that mattered to me. Some of these games have been out for quite some time, but I believe each one of them deserves to be on this list for helping me get through this wild year.
Read moreHow Hades Appeals To Different Players
A few weeks ago, I broke down some of the many ways that designers can classify their players. I purposefully kept that post broad and mainly focused on what some of the different typologies are. But this week, we’re going to focus in on how a game can appeal to different types of players using specific features and mechanics. For this case study, we’re going to break down Supergiant Games’ Hades using Nick Yee’s Motivations of Play. Keep in mind that this is not going to be an exhaustive breakdown of every single mechanic in the game, but rather a highlight on some of the game’s key features and their effectiveness.
Ready? Let’s go. In the name of Hades!
Read moreHades’ Simple Trick That Keeps The Game Fresh
There’s a lot to love about Hades. From its diverse cast of memorable characters to its endlessly replayable gameplay, Hades is easily one of the best and most ambitious Roguelikes ever released. I’ve personally sunk over 120hrs into the game and have played more than 100 runs and I still have so much left to do. Despite all the time I’ve spent on the game, it still feels just as captivating as it did when I first picked it up in early access. You might be thinking that this is because of the game’s overwhelming amount of content, and sure, that’s a pretty big factor. But Supergiant actually uses one little design trick to help encourage you keep the game fresh.
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