I've been meaning to post about a wonderful, artistic game that came out of this year's
Global Game Jam. Allow me to introduce:
The Sun Always Lies
This game was made by my good friend Michael Kwan and his team.
Do you have a PC? Download and play
The Sun Always Lies for free!
We often take light, the sun, and our ability to see for granted. But in
The Sun Always Lies, you must rely on the rain to determine what's real in the game world. The game fit this year's
Global Game Jam theme of 'Deception' perfectly, as well as the Albany area sub-category of 'Rain'.
Michael Kwan is a game designer who currently works with 1st Playable Productions, but he and I first met when we were both design co-op students at Vicarious Visions. Today, Michael is often my go-to design consultant. We bounce ideas off of each other, and help each other make the best games possible!
Michael's feedback has made its way into two of my shipped iPhone titles:
In
Number Guesser Deluxe, it was Michael's idea to calculate a Win Probability before each guess: the likelihood that you will win on your next guess.
Your Win Probabilities for each guess factor into your overall high score, or Luck Rating. Did you notice Kwan's name as a default on the leaderboard?
Michael also gave me excellent feedback for
DOTNUKE, a game which in fact originated from a mini Game Jam he and I had one weekend, just between the two of us, for fun!
After I made the core game, it was Michael's idea that, once your DOTNUKE grows large enough to fill the screen, its color becomes the new background color when the game resets. In retrospect, this one feature I think is critical to
DOTNUKE in adding a sense of persistence and closure to each game session, I can't imagine that the game would feel complete without it!
Bottom line, Michael Kwan is an incredibly talented game designer and a great friend. I'll keep you posted on all his latest projects!
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