20 Blogs Game Design Students Will Love
As video games continue to rise in popularity, game designers are being asked to create even more challenging and satisfying user experiences. Game design students are looking for information on the latest tips, tricks and techniques to help you take your games to the next level. Fortunately, there are several high-quality game design blogs to help guide your studies, skill development and provide you with the latest trends in the field.
Of the many game design blogs in cyberspace, we selected 20 that we think you’ll find useful now and long after you earn a game design degree.
1. Designer Notes
The author of this blog, Soren Johnson, works at EA2D on browser-based games. This blog examines important game design topics, like theme vs. meaning, prototyping and difficulty, to name a few, and includes job openings and game designer interviews.
2. Tiny Subversions
Darius Kazemi is writer of this blog and lead analyst at Blue Fang Games. This blog features information on the Akihabara Framework, game jams and conferences, plus video reviews of games. Kazemi also offers tips for game design students on blogging, portfolios and more.
3. Game Design Advance
Frank Latz, professional game designer, and Charles J. Pratt, freelance game designer, discuss gaming trends, theory, current events and history on this blog. Listen to live interviews with gaming experts in the blog’s Another Castle podcast series.
4. Teaching Game Design
Programmer and game designer Ian Schreiber created this blog. With a focus on education, Schreiber discusses social media in relation to gaming and offers career advice and information on game design courses and workshops.
5. Sirlin.net
Sirlin, game designer, tournament competitor and author of this blog, provides an insider’s perspective on the games he’s working on. Highlights of this blog include several series of posts with actionable tips on topics like multi-player game design and writing.
6. Gamasutra
One of the net’s most popular gaming sites, Gamasutra is a network of blogs written by game professionals. A one-stop shop for the latest information on gaming and design, this blog covers a huge array of topics, from game announcements and marketing to social gaming.
7. Jeff on Games
Jeff Ward is a programmer at Fire Hose Games and author of this blog. Ward explores all aspects of game design here, including game jams, XBLIG games, media theory and agency.
8. Raph Koster’s Website
Raphael Koster is a game designer living in San Diego, California and creator of this blog. A former writer, Koster provides commentary on gaming news, social media games, cloud gaming and the shift and popularity in digital game downloads.
9. Elder Game
Eric Heimburg writes this blog and is a casual games developer at Narwhal Games. With a focus on massively multi-player (MMP) and indie games, Heimburg provides in-depth analysis of game design aspects, including customer interaction and deathtrap design.
10. Game Producer Blog
This blog’s author, Juuso, runs his own game development studio part-time and writes about game production in this blog. Juuso covers a wide variety of game design subjects, such as pixel drawing, user statistics and mobile phone platforms.
11. Avante Game
Jane McGonigal, a game designer and researcher furthers her goal to make sure that a game developer wins a Nobel Prize by the year 2032 on this blog. Her posts focus on GAMEFUL, a secret site for those designing games that are changing the world; and Evoke, “a ten-week crash course in changing the world.”
12. Confessions of an Aca-Fan
Henry Jenkins writes this blog and is the provost's professor of communication, journalism and cinematic arts at the University of Southern California. Jenkins delves deeply into ethics in game design, media convergence, gender in gaming and much more on this blog.
13. GamePolitics.com
Pete Gallagher, blog editor, blends games and politics on this popular blog. Gallagher keeps game designers in-the-know with current and relevant information on anti-game/gamer legislation, political issues that affect gamers, digital distribution and net neutrality.
14. GameDevBlogs
This blog is a directory-style listing of new blogs authored by video game developers, with a few interesting articles posted in between. Check here often to stay current on new blogs in the game design world.
15. Jool's Watsham's Blog
Jools Watsham, co-founder and game director of Renegade Kid and independent video game developer, takes a unique approach on this blog with video posts on hot gaming topics. Watsham shares which games he’s playing, his top 10 lists and reviews of popular games.
16. Game Theory Blog
This blog’s founder, Scott Steinberg, is the CEO of video game consulting firm TechSavvy Global and founder of GameExec magazine and Game Industry TV. A team of writers provides in-depth analysis and insights on the gaming industry on this blog, including helpful posts on breaking into the video game industry.
17. Doppler Interactive Blog
This blog is written by Doppler Interactive, a boutique media design company “running the spectrum between video and video game.” Topics covered here include the benefits and pitfalls of Agile Development, audience involvement in game development and game reviews.
18. Ayogo Social Gaming Blog
Ayogo, a Vancouver based studio that creates social games for social networks and mobile platforms, covers all aspects of social gaming on this blog. Posts offer relevant game design tips, including in-depth information on time, patterns and marketing.
19. Game Design Aspect of the Month
This blog’s founder, Sande Chen has been a writer and game designer for 10 years. Each month, this blog features a post from game designers and other industry professionals on a game design issue, such as using collectibles in a game design, risk versus reward and prototyping.
20. Applied Game Design
Brenda Brathwaite, creative director at LOLapps, writes this blog, along with several other game designers. This blog delves into tutorials on social games, gaming interfaces and end-user satisfaction, while also offering career advice and event notices.
