Links
Recommended Reading
There are a lot of great writers out there who have a lot to say on design. I’ll add articles that I think are relevant to the field as I think of or read them. If you have any suggestions, please comment below!
Timmy, Johnny, and Spike Revisited – Mark Rosewater has written a lot in the field of design, and this is one of his greats. This is one of the most important design theory articles of all time, and one I will refer to constantly. You need to know what kind of players are out there and who you’re designing for to actually design something well, and Mark lays it out in excellent fashion.
Design 101, Design 102, and Design 103 – Three great articles on different aspects of Magic design, but the lessons inside are applicable to any game design process.
Designing for Draft – A lesser known, yet thoroughly excellent article by Dom Camus on designing Magic for Limited formats.
Other Blogs you should Visit
Guskintelligence – Dave Guskin is a great guy, and he runs a blog where he discusses a different running topic for each day of each month. Sometimes he talks about his friends. Sometimes he reviews things. Sometimes he talks about design. Regardless, it is always interesting and worth reading. Check it out!
Design-Side Out – Gregory Marques is a former Wizards of the Coast employee who has a really interesting blog on, among other things, game design. It’s a great read, especially because he often uses the experiences he had inside Wizards as a reference point. If you like this blog, I highly recommended his!
A Series of Interesting Choices – Paul Sottosanti is also a former Wizards of the Coast employee who has a blog focused on the aspects of game design. For those of you who are on Facebook a lot, you might recognize him as one of the faces behind the development of the super-popular Facebook game Dungeons and Dragons: Tiny Adventures. Paul has a lot of great things to say on game design, and you should definitely take a look at them.
PK Bloggin’ – Joe of PK Bloggin’ and I have known each other for years, and yet there is always something new story to tell. Joe does just that on his blog, as he sporadically updates with everything from video games, to cooking, to how his sink looks like a creepy face. (Seriously.) I read it whenever it’s updated, and I always find it worth my time.
Djinn’s Playground – Nick – AKA the Djinn – is a Magic personality I’ve always had a fun time talking with and listening to. He does his own podcast and has a pretty well designed website. Go take a look!