I just want to write a brief post about who I am and why I’m writing this blog. I realise I didn’t exactly get that across in my rather defeatist first post.

I am a teacher, a college ICT lecturer to be precise. Mostly, I teach media topics such as computer graphics and web design, but for the past year I’ve had the amazing opportunity to teach my real passion - game design. Through teaching, I’ve been able to further my own knowledge and improve my own skills in game design.

As well as being a teacher, I’m also a student, informally at least. I never stop trying to learn new things, and take great pleasure in introducing the things that I learn to other people. That is the main reason for starting this blog - to pass some of my knowledge on to a wider audience than the students enrolled in my classes.

Through this blog, I plan on demonstrating a few of the techniques I’ve learnt, showing of some of my prototypes and perhaps even posting some games if I ever get around to finishing them. I also plan to post game reviews, links that I find interesting, stuff that amuses me, and other random bumph from my life as an aspiring indie game designer.

Enjoy.

Last night I played through a wonderful little game called Depict1, made by Kyle Pulver for the Global Game Jam. It’s a charming affair, with lovely low-res graphics and an engaging story, garnished with music is provided by non other than Alec Holowka.

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But you can’t play it and I can’t really talk about it :( You see, I’m now a beta tester for the ever mysterious Stencyl game creation tool, which has been under development for well over two years now. There are still plenty of people who don’t believe it really exists, but I’ve spent the last week fumbling around the interface, trying to learn it.

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I’ve been on a steady drip feed of SMG2 since my pre-order arrived the day before the UK launch (rumour has it that there were several outlets that broke the street date way earlier than that). Or rather, we’ve been on a steady drip, as Nintendo have expanded on their genius decision in the first game to add a collaborative play element. My wife has been there for every one of the 98 stars collected so far, helping out by collecting power-ups and taking out enemies.

It makes it a really nice experience for couples like us - both gamers, but one much more so than the other. The co-star system really brings the other party into the game in such a unique and rewarding way, unlike in the first game where P2 was only really able to collect star bits.

On top of that, SMG2 has some of the best level design I’ve ever seen in a game, and there hasn’t been a single galaxy that didn’t surprise or impress me in some way. I hear that there’s a bunch of extra stars to collect once the main quest is completed, but I’m in no hurry to get them. This is one of those games that you really want to savour.

I’ve spent most of the evening playing a fantastic new platform arena shooter called Super Crate Box. Now, I don’t really need to prattle on about how great it is - it would take less than five minutes for you to download this free game and find out for yourselves. However, what I am going to do is write a few words about the things that the developers, Vlambeer, have done really right from a design perspective.

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