Spellstorm hits Kickstarter on April 17!
Keith Burgun Blog
by Keith Burgun
2d ago
Big news: the Spellstorm Kickstarter campaign will be launching on April 17th, 2024. If you’re not already signed up to get notified, make sure to click the button over here at Kickstarter. Stay tuned ..read more
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What is an RPG?
Keith Burgun Blog
by Keith Burgun
1w ago
I decided to make a word cloud that lays out some of the associations between certain qualities of a game, and the term “RPG”. Check it out, and let me know what you think ..read more
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Outside, Dungeon, Town: integrating the Three Places in Videogames
Keith Burgun Blog
by Keith Burgun
2w ago
Videogames, at least the kind I’m talking about (RPGs, adventure kinds of somewhat narrative videogames, Zelda games, Elden Ring, etc), have essentially three “places”: Outside – Hyrule field. Most of the game is Outside, just running around in a grassy area or a snowy mountain. It’s kind of the glue between all of the elements but there can be all manner of things Outside. Outside is the most flexible, but it typically has the lowest density of monsters, NPCs, shops, etc. Dungeon – The sewers, the final boss’ castle, a factory full of monsters, or a literal dungeon. Dungeons have LOTS of mon ..read more
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Introducing: the Bannet Bulletin!
Keith Burgun Blog
by Keith Burgun, KEITH BURGUN GAMES
2w ago
Hello all and welcome to the first episode of the Bannet Bulletin! It’s still the Clockwork Game Design Podcast feed, but for awhile I’m going to do a series of shorter podcast episodes that talk about what is going on and what I’m thinking about with the RPG I’m making. This episode is an overview – what is this new game? What’s important? When can you actually play it? In future episodes, we’ll do deep dives into other aspects of the game. If you enjoy the episode, let me know – it will encourage me to take the time to make more! And as always, you can support this show and the creation of ..read more
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Strategy games should always be moving toward their conclusion
Keith Burgun Blog
by Keith Burgun
3M ago
One of the principles that has been important to me over the years, which I have talked about a lot, is the idea that strategy games should always be moving toward their conclusion. In a way, this extends from the basic Clockwork Game Design model. In this model, you have a goal, and a “core mechanism” which has two parts: a core action and a core purpose. This core purpose is to pursue that goal. So if all of the supporting mechanisms are supporting that singular core mechanism, which itself is pursuing the goal, then, *in theory*, the game state ought to always be moving toward its conclusio ..read more
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The RPG Report, and the worst things in RPGs
Keith Burgun Blog
by Keith Burgun, KEITH BURGUN GAMES
4M ago
Hey all! Today I have a new episode where I’m going to be talking about two things. First, I’m going to report on a bunch of RPGs that I’ve been playing or trying out, and give my takes. I say more about each game on the podcast, so make sure to check that out. Here are some quick bullet points, though! What I’ve been playing SCARLET NEXUS – Extremely polished, simple but fun combat. Kind of “adolescent anime” feeling story, a little silly and a little too fantastical in its basic universe for me, but seems well written. Overly smoothed out, like most modern big production videogames. Bad leve ..read more
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Single Player Elo Systems
Keith Burgun Blog
by Keith Burgun
4M ago
This isn’t a full article, just something that I wanted to make a note about and talk briefly about. A bunch of years ago, I wrote an article about Auro’s single player Elo system. The Dinofarm Games website has been down for a few years now, but you can still read the original article here on archive.org. Since then, I’ve also implemented this system into my 2021 tactics game, Gem Wizards Tactics as well, and made some modifications (like removing forced-de-ranking). The old Auro 1.0 rank screen, from back in 2014 or so! Just in case that Archive.org page ever goes down, here’s what my single ..read more
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I’m making an RPG!
Keith Burgun Blog
by Keith Burgun
5M ago
(Above: some WIP pixel art from Wizbane) You might have noticed I’ve been writing about and playing a lot of RPGs recently. Starting somewhere in 2020, I started this huge dive into the Final Fantasy series – strangely enough, starting with the XIII trilogy. Over the past year and a half I’ve been diving hard into a huge number of different RPGs: Nearly all the 1-player Final Fantasies, Dragon Quest, Trails in the Sky, the Tales games, Scarlet Nexus, a really cool Japanese GBA game called Magical Vacation, and a lot more. Also I’ve been playing a bunch of CRPGs at the same time, like (obviousl ..read more
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It should’ve been Donkey Kong Racing
Keith Burgun Blog
by Keith Burgun
6M ago
Feels like a “rare” few know about what an incredible game Diddy Kong Racing is. I mean, if you’re looking for a light, social party game, one where groups of players of vastly different skill levels can play together, then, as much as I hate to admit it, Mario Kart is better (that is, all of the Mario Karts except for Super and Super Circuit—more on that later). DKR  is a legit racing game, as in, your skill at racing will be mercilessly judged by the game. You can lap the other players. There is no blue shell**, no bullet bill, not even a lightning bolt to help you come back when you’r ..read more
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RPG Questions, and Trails in the Sky FC
Keith Burgun Blog
by Keith Burgun, KEITH BURGUN GAMES
11M ago
Hi all! Today I have a nice podcast episode, all about RPGs and RPG design! I feel like I have a lot to say here, and I do dare say that I am slowly, slowly pursuing becoming some kind of crazy expert on the topic, so hopefully there’s some interesting stuff in here to think about. I’m also starting pre-pre-production on my very own RPG finally (!!), so a lot of this is very non-theoretical for me. I also talk a bit about Trails in the Sky: First Chapter which I’ve been playing a bunch on and off over the past month or so, as well as a bunch of other games. Finally, I answer a bunch of questi ..read more
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