Erin Hoffman writes...
One of the occupational hazards of being a game designer is an obligation to play up-and-coming games, both to stay ahead of where the market is moving and to dig for signs of the One True Game Design, aka universal mechanics that move people. Lately there's been a lot of buzz around Bejeweled Blitz, so I dug in for a sample today.
Blitz takes the familiar Bejeweled mechanic, itself going back along the Columns lineage in games, and makes you play it fast. They bolt on a bunch of social features -- leaderboards and achievements -- making it massively multiplayer in a lightweight but fun way. No surprise it's sweeping through facebook, and a good time to be doing so.
Games like this, based on such simple and compelling mechanics, are on the one hand at the heart of game design and on the other inevitably raise the concept of "addicting" game mechanics. Because, man, that mechanic is addictive.
GamaSutra - DeNA's Ben Cousins has been fascinated by digital games and their business model ever since he left Electronic Arts for Ngmoco -- and to start the Stockholm studio that would become Scattered Entertainment, staffed up with AAA talent from studios like Crytek and DICE. After four years heading up EA's free-to-play initiatives, Cousins was eager to pursue the model at a company that focused on digital 100 percent, not just as a strategy component.
AR: Bejeweled is an icon in gaming. It’s the definition of cross-platform fun, and since I played it on my Palm ages ago, it dates me. It’s the perfect time killer, and has the benefit of appealing to folks from all generations.
With so many people getting involved in games like Farmville 2 and SimCity Social and higher quality titles like PixelJunk Monsters, Outernauts and You Don't Know Jack showing up, the stigma that used to surround Facebook gamers is starting to face.
