Game design is the oldest pillar. It's also the one most people think they understand and least often discuss with rigor. The discipline covers everything from core loop construction (the 30-second moment-to-moment experience) to system design (economies, progressions, meta-games) to narrative integration to UX. In a live game, design isn't a phase — it's a continuous activity that responds to player behavior.
The shift from 'ship the design' to 'iterate the design forever' has reshaped what good designers do. Modern senior designers spend as much time reading analytics dashboards as they do writing design docs. They run experiments, kill features that aren't working, double down on accidents that are. The craft is alive in a different way than it was in the cartridge era.
“Design isn't decided. Design is discovered.”
And design in a live game is inseparable from the other pillars. The best Live Ops cadences come from designers who understand player psychology. The best monetization systems come from designers who understand economy theory. The best community systems come from designers who understand how to give players agency. Game design isn't one of nine pillars — it's the connective tissue across all of them.
Each bar is a topic in this pillar. Bar length is content volume — how much we've published about it. Tap any topic to drill in.
Two-person studio used early access to iterate a roguelike deckbuilder until every system was tight. Daily climb event added retention. Mod community extended replayability. A textbook example of design that emerged from systematic player observation, not blueprint planning.
↳ The best designs are usually the third or fourth attempt at the same idea, with the player feedback baked in.
Stripped a genre to a single brilliant loop — auto-combat + escalating chaos + meta-progression. Made by one developer in their evenings; eventually became one of the most-imitated designs in indie. The case for radical simplicity.
↳ If your loop is brilliant, you don't need every other system. If your loop is weak, the systems can't save you.
Five years of early access, hundreds of thousands of beta players, design that rewards player choice at a scale most CRPGs couldn't attempt. Reset expectations for what AAA narrative + system design can look like when the team commits.
↳ Players will reward design ambition if you give them the time to see it. The shortcut isn't the win.
Game Director / Design Director. At larger studios: separate Systems Designer, Economy Designer, Narrative Designer, UX Designer roles, all coordinated by the Director.
The consulting vet offers hot takes on what’s derailed Web3 gaming, SDT’s upsides, and the importance of bridging the gap between game design and production processes
He’s always surfing the next big, sexy, dangerous, and psychologically meaningful logarithmic or asymptotic curve
Forces in the EU are working to tap into video games’ latent potential to make the real-world a better place for everyone and the environment
He's helping to shape Speculative Agency's strategic deck-builder, All Will Rise, to be a means toward that end
The veteran designer helped lead workshop participants through two exercises that connected video game design elements to positive emotional and psychological outcomes for players.
From Diner Dash and Balatro to redesigning capitalism, Zimmerman is interested in creating, iterating, and playing with systems that deliver "mouthfuls of delicious meaning"
The 20-year metaverse vet shares his thoughts on what's gone right and what's gone wrong relative to the Snow Crash vision
On this episode of Player Driven, Lewis and Greg are joined by Joost Vervoort, Associate Professor at Utrecht University (in the Netherlands) and Science/Impact Director at Speculative Agency.
Mobile games can't afford passive users — they've built sophisticated engagement systems to earn attention moment by moment. Here's what B2B SaaS product teams can borrow from those mechanics without cheapening the experience.
Mark Otero built Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes into a $1.4B mobile franchise by obsessing over one metric: time-to-fun. Tracing his path from a South Korean village to EA Capital Games reveals how personal obsession, financial modeling, and a camera-angle insight reshaped the collectibles RPG genre.
Episode OverviewWhat does it really mean to design a game — and what can that teach us about culture, creativity, and even our daily lives? In this episode, Greg is joined by Lewis Ward and Eric Zimmerman, legendary game designer, professor…
Introduction: The Nine-Second Rule In gaming, players decide whether to stay or leave within seconds. Mark Otero, CEO of Azra Games, described the shift in mobile RPGs: early games took 30–45 minutes to reach the fun, but by the third generation it dropped to 6–9 minutes. The newest generation? Nine seconds to fun. That same reality applies to your product, platform, or service. Whether you’re shipping a new app, selling a SaaS tool, or handing over a physical product, you have a razor-thin window to prove value. Onboarding isn’t just a process. It’s the whole first impression.
A few days ago, I posed a question that’s been consuming my thoughts: How do you find the fun in games? It sounds simple, right? Fun is the goal of every game. Yet for anyone who has tried to build something, fun can feel slippery, subjective, and hard to pin down. Is it a survey score? Is it session length? Can you really call your own baby ugly if the loop just isn’t working? What I’ve learned is that finding fun isn’t about chasing magic. It’s a disciplined, practical process of defining, testing, and iterating.
Guest: Andrew Wagner, Author of Economics of Online Gaming and Founder of Wagner Road Capital CoHost: Lewis Ward, Research Director @ IDC 🎙 Episode Summary What happens when a high schooler treats an MMORPG like a business case study? Andr…
In the world of gaming, developers and studios have never had more data at their fingertips. From in-game analytics to player feedback, data collection has become standard practice. Yet, despite an abundance of raw numbers, charts, and metrics, many studios find themselves struggling to turn this vast ocean of data into actionable insights. Simply put: having data is not enough. The real value lies in understanding what the data is saying and, crucially, what actions to take because of it.
Summary: In this episode, Greg chats with AJ Leece, the founder of Brekade, a studio transforming security training into engaging, story-driven video games.
Jack Burrows is more than just a level designer – he's a storyteller who crafts immersive worlds through meticulously designed spaces. With an impressive career spanning studios like Treyarch and NetEase, Jack has left his mark on iconic games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops, Warzone, and Marvel Rivals.
Jack Burrows is more than just a level designer – he's a storyteller who crafts immersive worlds through meticulously designed spaces. With an impressive career spanning studios like Treyarch and NetEase, Jack has left his mark on iconic games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops, Warzone, and Marvel Rivals.
Episode Description: In this episode, we dive into the world of game development with Thaddeus Sasser, Game Director of Marvel Rivals at NetEase.
Marvel Rivals, the much-anticipated free-to-play game, launches tomorrow, bringing iconic heroes like Spider-Man and Hulk into a fresh and dynamic multiplayer experience. Leading up to this moment, I had the privilege of speaking with two incredible minds behind the game: Thaddeus Sasser, Game Director, and Jack Burrows, Level Designer at NetEase. Our conversations dove deep into not just the creation of Marvel Rivals, but the intricate and inspiring process of game development itself.
Episode Description: In this episode, we sit down with Jack Burrows, a talented level designer at NetEase Games, who has worked on some of the most iconic titles in the gaming industry, including Call of Duty and Marvel Rivals.
Structured courses, instructor feedback on studio briefs, and a credential scored by working operators. The L01 primer is free with an account.
Every piece of content in this pillar you finish earns credits toward your Game Design level. See the full system at /level-up.