The GMTK Q&A - Ask Mark Anything!

Generally speaking, do you find games with silent protagonists more or less immersive than games with talkative ones?

Mike

Thank you for this Q&A

Pedro Tanaka Duarte

Okay, I've answered all 118 questions above this comment. I can't promise I'll answer anything underneath this, because it took almost three hours to do these first ones!! Thanks for the questions, hope you found some interest in the answers!

Game Maker's Toolkit

Nah. There's a reason why gacha games have been banned in certain countries. It's just gambling, and I don't find that fun at all.

Game Maker's Toolkit

It would be a really big undertaking, and I just don't find the worlds as interesting as the dungeons. I talked a bit about this in terms of A Link Between Worlds, BOTW, and the NES games. Maybe I'll touch on the others at some point in the future. Who knows

Game Maker's Toolkit

Yes! I've got a potential big project happening this year - if that falls through, I'll do a podcast instead

Game Maker's Toolkit

I wish AAA games were a bit more open to interesting and innovative mechanics, like indies are. Indies are good - I wouldn't want them to take much from AAA. If they could magically get AAA-style graphics that would be nice, but it's not necessary. I don't think any genre is fully grown yet, there's still so much more to do. But the genre with the most growing to do is probably open world - we're still copying a lot of what GTA 3 did from 20 years ago. So much potential there. A good core gameplay system is what I look for: good art, story, music, level design etc can't help a game where the character feels bad to move or the gameplay system is shallow. I most enjoyed analysing Star Fox Zero, just because it was so weird, goofy, and fun to compare with other games doing similar space shooty things

Game Maker's Toolkit

I'm not a big board game player but I really like Pandemic. I'd need to play a few more before I talk about this though, as I'd probably come off very newb-y!

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RDR 2's camp is interesting. You can make money from side activities and put it into the camp. But the upgrades you get are pretty useless. I think they should have made upgrading the camp the main way to advance the story, thus making side activities like bounties and treasure hunts way more important in the grand scheme of things

Game Maker's Toolkit

Unfortunately I've just never gotten into MMOs. They seem to be the most time intensive games around and time is just not something I have in huge supply! Sorry!

Game Maker's Toolkit

This is a whole video topic, so I guess I'd say wait a bit and I'm sure I'll tackle this soon!

Game Maker's Toolkit

I focus on one video at a time. So I'll start with research of all types, then focus on writing, and then edit. Then move on. I just take it very seriously as a job, so I work on videos for 8 hours a day and don't mess around on social media and stuff. Luckily I massively enjoy making videos so it's easy to dedicate the time

Game Maker's Toolkit

Meow

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Yeah. They don't have much in the way of gameplay for me to talk about, but they still do interesting stuff with how they present narrative. Gone Home would be the one I'm most interested to discuss

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I really should make a video on Brothers, if only to finish off that playlist

Game Maker's Toolkit

Not yet, but I hope to make a game one day!

Game Maker's Toolkit

Me and my girlfriend make each other laugh so hard all the time. Absolutely silly things that wouldn't make sense if I typed them out, but at the time they destroyed us

Game Maker's Toolkit

Oh sure! Everyone who plays games has loads of ideas and things they'd like to see. Hopefully i'll get to put them into practice one day

Game Maker's Toolkit

I drive a Toyota Yaris. Hoping to get an electric car in the near future!

Game Maker's Toolkit

It's always good to have people who know specific topics and subjects well, and focus on them. Like Core-A for fighting, and Vaati for Dark Souls. We need more experts

Game Maker's Toolkit

Check out my video on detective games for some thoughts on how games can ask players to prove knowledge!

Game Maker's Toolkit

Games can be used to teach systems really well. Things like politics, weather systems, traffic, etc can be simulated - and then the player gets to see how they can affect, change, and improve them. That's, for me, the most effective way to use games in education

Game Maker's Toolkit

Sekiro first, then Spelunky 2. Also up for DOOM Eternal, and The Last of Us 2 if it makes it

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Squirtle!

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There could be something in the way VR allows for games where you can physically reach out and touch stuff. If that could be done without glasses, using a 3DS-style 3D display, that could be really interesting. In its current form though, 3D was just a bit of a fad in my opinion

Game Maker's Toolkit

Oh definitely. Video games are still such a young medium, and their purpose is still very narrow compared to what it could be. We're seeing really good advances lately as people really start to experiment with what games can be - and that's superb. We just need to keep pushing those boundaries, and ignore the trolls who say "this isn't a game" if we want to get to this point

Game Maker's Toolkit

Hey John. Genre does play a big part - but it's important to test this every now and again. Eg I don't like card games, but I decided to give Slay the Spire a shot and ended up loving it. I like to follow developers who do good work, and play their new games. But I also am just happy to give anything a try - you don't have to commit to a whole genre, a whole series, or even a whole game - just give it a couple hours and see what you think!

Game Maker's Toolkit

Me!

Game Maker's Toolkit

Dunkey's great but his viewers are annoying. They parrot his jokes into the comments of other people's videos. My favourite YouTubers are probably Super Bunnyhop, Errant Signal, Game Score Fanfare, and Writing on Games.

Game Maker's Toolkit

Yeah, still working on stuff. As always these plans get a bit rejiggered as I actually start to work on them. The series about balance will probably just be one video. The series on influential games might be something else entirely (i.e not videos). But I still want to do the stuff I talked about in that video

Game Maker's Toolkit

I liked watching video essays on movies, and I liked learning about game design - wanted to see if I could mash the two together! Also, the writing was on the wall for traditional written games journalism and video was obviously the next big thing

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Professor Layton, Advance Wars's Andy, Leon Kennedy, Phoenix Wright. All are very important to Nintendo's history in one way or another and deserve representation

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Yep. i've just started learning Game Maker for this purpose!

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I've never been to one! I prefer live music in cozy bars and cafes

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Definitely Red Dead 2. Really archaic game design, boring story, baffling over reliance on realism. It feels like a relic to me, not the pinnacle of gaming

Game Maker's Toolkit

Haven't really played them. Just a bit of Darksiders 3. I'll give them a proper go one day

Game Maker's Toolkit

Currently, after playing RE 2 Remake and DMC 5, I'm really hoping that Capcom does a straight port of Resident Evil 4 but with the RE Engine.

Game Maker's Toolkit

It's something I'm interested in, but I don't think it really fits my current focus on design. Maybe one day, though

Game Maker's Toolkit

I find game design books to be a bit stuffy and academic. I prefer to look at existing games for examples. That's why I always recommend Spelunky by Derek Yu - it's a very specific look at the design decisions behind a single, existing, and awesome game.

Game Maker's Toolkit

You see i'm taking this more as a "what games can be played by an alien who can't speak human languages and has no concept of Earth culture". So that's hard! Probably some really abstract puzzle game like Auditorium.

Game Maker's Toolkit

I really had trouble with the Nintendo Putting Playing First video. It had like six different script attempts. I'm still not happy with it!

Game Maker's Toolkit

Red Faction Guerrilla would be a good start. How is world destruction still not as good as Red Faction? And definitely - designers should never just play games. They should read, watch, do interesting hobbies. If everyone was just playing each others games, we'd never advance as a medium

Game Maker's Toolkit

I don't, sorry. I get asked about this a lot but I simply don't have the time. I do hope to do more streams where I play viewer made games, though!

Game Maker's Toolkit

Most recently, I really liked making the Hitman video. The interview, using Ansel to make the overhead shots, and getting unique footage for every shot in the video made it really fun. The Mega Man 11 video was fun too as I learned some new editing techniques.

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I'm generally against the Berlin definition because I find really restrictive genres with loads and loads of factors, lead to very samey and repetitive games. So having a genre (roguelike) to cover a small and super specific list of games seems like a waste. Makes sense to me to just call them "classic roguelikes" or something. Generally though, I'd prefer to call these games "run-based games" because that's really the defining factor. You start from scratch each time, and see how far you can get through a single run.

Game Maker's Toolkit

Hey Shae. I didn't know that, thanks for bringing it to my attention and I'll look into it!

Game Maker's Toolkit

I'm not that bothered about giving my opinion on everything, anymore. The internet has become this place where everyone thinks people will care about their opinion on everything. It's become boring to share your opinion in a sea of absolute noise. I'd rather use my platform to teach, share knowledge, and curate.

Game Maker's Toolkit

It's been tricky, as a number of people have made videos inspired by my style. But that's just meant I've had to up my own game and try new and more ambitious things! An example being the Hitman video, where I got the devs from IO on Skype - other video essay people aren't doing that, so it's a way to set me above the crowd.

Game Maker's Toolkit

Shadow of Mordor! I still think that has the most potential in terms of dynamic narratives.

Game Maker's Toolkit

Hey. Nothing planned for MMOs, I simply don't have the experience. I'm doing some balance stuff, but it will be a bit more basic and introductory, so might not be super useful for eSports!

Game Maker's Toolkit

How I'm doing. (Answer: Fine!)

Game Maker's Toolkit

I do take lots of notes to try and get the thoughts out of my head and onto paper, but it doesn't help much. i'm always thinking about this stuff :P

Game Maker's Toolkit

Haha, no I will not. I was most interested in how Nintendo evolved and iterated on its dungeon design formula. Those CD-I games, as far as I'm aware, don't try to tackle this in the same way before.

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I think it was Super Mario Land on the Game Boy!

Game Maker's Toolkit

Yeah, I mean I mostly just make videos about games I like and am interested in, which are the genres you mentioned. I do want to expand my horizons more, but it's tricky. I've got decades of experience with platforms and action games, and comparatively little with, say, real time strategy games. It would be a big, daunting undertaking to feel as confident enough to talk about those.

Game Maker's Toolkit

Oh, that's because the early backer posts automatically turn to public ones after 24 hours, and I guess there's no notification for that. I'll look into a fix for that. I generally agree with all the older videos, except the one on Dark Souls easy mode (which I sorta remade in the Celeste Assist Mode video), but I'd definitely want to just make them all higher quality. It's not worth the time, though

Game Maker's Toolkit

That's a tough question. Probably best example is BOTW, where it automatically replaces enemies with harder ones as you progress through the game. You can also just use harder enemies to constrain the player a bit, by having the foes get stronger and stronger the further away they are from the start of the game. This lets players explore if they're really good at the combat, or stealth - but most will stick to the part of the game that suits their power level, thus soft-locking them to that area. It's a good question, something I'll think more on

Game Maker's Toolkit

I have started learning Game Maker this month! Very early days as I have very little time right now to devote to it, but I have a thing moving around the screen. That's basically a game, right? Looking forward to learning more. GMTK Jam 3 is definitely happening, will share the date soon.

Game Maker's Toolkit

For scripts, I try to jot down all the important things I want to say, and then find a way to connect all of those thoughts up. Create a flow between them. Once the script is done, I often throw it out and start again, because writing the first draft helped me understand the topic way better. For editing, I start with the difficult motion graphic bits, then do the bits that require specific footage (like finding footage of an exploding barrel when I talk about exploding barrels), and then fill in the rest with generic footage.

Game Maker's Toolkit

A lot of games are designed on spreadsheets! Using formulas and whatnot to decide the perfect XP amount / boss health / and so on. Beyond that, lots of play testing I'm afraid. Can't get away from play testing.

Game Maker's Toolkit

Not sure Igor, I don't have experience there. But most skills, like modelling and design, will be applicable across multiple types of games.

Game Maker's Toolkit

Ask yourself a question, start answering it! Think about all the interesting things you want to say, and then put them into groups of thoughts, and then find the connections. Start in the middle, do the beginning later. Good luck!

Game Maker's Toolkit

I love Snake Pass, but it got some really negative reviews. I really didn't enjoy Red Dead Redemption 2, but it's the highest reviewed game of 2018.

Game Maker's Toolkit

Papers, Please comes to mind. This is a game that says, among other things, "intense bureaucracy and low pay will turn good people bad". And it shows this by creating a system where you, as a player, can see first hand how you would be forced to make bad decisions if you want to feed your family. In this way, video games should be a really exciting form of art because you get to live inside an artist's idea of how the world works, and see, first hand, how the world operates from their perspective.

Game Maker's Toolkit

Oh definitely. If you want to make a super realistic game set in the real world, you can't have silly, outlandish, unrealistic game mechanics or systems. It can be really limiting, and that's a shame.

Game Maker's Toolkit

Video games have definitely improved my life, but more for career prospects than anything else :P

Game Maker's Toolkit

Mission statement is always evolving, but the videos should aim to teach and inspire. Would like to see more games give players the freedom and trust to explore, without so many objective markers and waypoints. A favourite game due to nostalgia would be Broken Sword. Playing it brings me right back to childhood.

Game Maker's Toolkit

Dark Souls was my first and my favourite. Can't wat for Sekiro.

Game Maker's Toolkit

We've been making these delicious oaty cookies with porridge oats and raisins. Most of the stuff we make is packed with chocolate and sugar, but these are somewhat kinda almost good for you

Game Maker's Toolkit

A good hook (can your game be described in a single sentence that sounds really enticing and different?) and early marketing with good GIFs and videos, and strong community support. Take a look at what similar, popular games did to find success. Other than that, this is the question every indie dev is struggling to answer

Game Maker's Toolkit

Yeah, it was initially used by trolls as a snarky way to describe these games. But it's been "taken back" by fans and devs of those games to be a badge of honour. Genre names are always a bit weird, you just gotta roll with them!

Game Maker's Toolkit

Main advice would be: just start! You've really got to make some videos to see if you like it, to see what types of videos you like making and the viewers like watching, and to figure out your style. I'm still working on that, 4 years in. As for background, I grew up in the south of England but I didn't go to uni to study anything. I just went straight into working.

Game Maker's Toolkit

That Nintendo games are just for children

Game Maker's Toolkit

I started a blog with some friends, called British Gaming Blog (hence my Twitter, @britishgaming). Here I got experience writing, talking to PR firms, going to events, etc. I did a bit of freelance and volunteering at different places. And then I got an internship at Wired, which was a big break. That turned into a part-time job at Wired, and I also got a part-time job at Pocket Gamer. And then I eventually left Wired to be editor of PG. And then left PG to be director of GMTK :P

Game Maker's Toolkit

I guess the sorts of people who would play these games are the kind of people who are happy to put in the hours to learn a game, will go to forums and wikis for help, and so on. And they've made the calculation that even if they spent ages on proper tutorials, that's not going to get enough casual players into the game for it to be worth it. That'd be my guess!

Game Maker's Toolkit

I think it's just no one has come up with a really compelling system for this yet. If they did, it would be copied all over the place. HR's social boss battles are kinda cool and a step in the right direction. Some of the stuff in Mass Effect is getting there. But picking options from a list of responses is never going to be as exciting to most players, as the huge breadth of options you get in a firefight.

Game Maker's Toolkit

What I specifically am hoping to see is games with mechanical depth, but without violence. A good example is Tony Hawks: this is a game with a really high skill ceiling, amazing movement, and deep player controls - but it's not about killing. Mirror's Edge (outside of fighting), Mario games, etc are also good examples. We often seem to have to give up the gameplay to have non-violent games, with games like Firewatch and Life is Strange that have great stories, but don't have traditional action gameplay. Hope that makes sense.

Game Maker's Toolkit

1. I do like these games, but I'm not an expert on them. You can definitely expect some videos on them in the future. 2. Fighting games are /definitely/ not my expertise, but I'm going to be talking briefly about them in my balance video. 3. I looove Mother 2 and 3. Earthbound holds a very special place in my heart. It's very moving.

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I mean, sure, I guess so

Game Maker's Toolkit

Of course. The best bit about Coco Pops is you get a free chocolate milkshake to drink at the end. The milk goes in second, always

Game Maker's Toolkit

Have you ever played japanese mobile game with gacha system? (like Puzzle and Dragons, Fate/GO, Dragalia lost ...) I'd love to hear your thoughts on gacha system on mobile game.

Do you feel like you would have enough material to examine the Legend of Zelda overworlds to the same degree you did dungeons? You've talked about how you liked the open overworlds of Breath of the Wild and the first NES one but do you feel like it could be worth some time to talk about say, Wind Waker's overworld in comparison to Spirit Tracks or Skyward Sword?

Tara Kay

Have you ever considered starting a podcast?

What do you think is the biggest lesson that AAA studios could learn from indie devs, and vice versa? What would you consider to be the most well-developed genre, and what one do you believe has the most growing to do? When executed properly, what is your favorite piece of game design, i.e. level design, music, aesthetics, etc. and why? What game did you most enjoy reviewing and/or analyzing either on or off of this channel and what made it doing so enjoyable?

Kenny Richardson

I've got a few, and I certainly don't expect you to answer all of them, but if any are interesting to you I"d like to hear your thoughts.

Kenny Richardson

Ever played a board game that you considered discussing? (It's possible you did this already, sorry if that's the case)

PotentPinion

What is a game that had a really interesting mechanic that was not executed well. What would you change about the game?

Hi Mark! I'd love to hear your thoughts on MMORPGs. I started playing World of Warcraft just a few months after it was released back in 2005 and continued playing it up until it's sixth expansion (Legion) in 2016 when I finally took a step back and looked at the big picture of what the game was about and realised I no longer enjoyed any of it. Everything was repetitive, grindy, and very time consuming. The core gameplay for me boiled down to standing at the right spot, pressing a very specific set of buttons, and being (sometimes) rewarded with a 0,5% better upgrade. Over and over again. It was around this time that I instead went on over to play Guild Wars 2 which felt drastically different. GW2 instead had a ton of viable entertaining options beside combat that you could use to further advance and level up in the game, like exploration, crafting, jumping puzzles, finding secrets etc. World of Warcraft is such a large and well known game but I've barely heard any reasons as to why that is, or any critical opinions about it. Either you love it or hate it, or never touched it. Now I know that you havn't played World of Warcraft so addressing this question might be tricky but regardless, I'd still like to hear your thoughts! Sorry if I flaunted my own opinions and if I seemed to jump from one subject to another randomly, I'm currently being screened for ADD and Aspergers, so that might have something to do with me being random and coming on too strong with my interests. Looking forward to your Q&A! Much love from Sweden!

Hampus Dahlstedt

What is your perspective on randomness in games? Does too much randomness make for an unfair and frustrating game? If so, what is the right amount? Can randomness be used to address asymmetry between players in competitive games, by testing higher skilled players with bad guns and providing low skill players with good guns? Should competitive games have less randomness than non-competitive games? For example, should Apex Legends or Hearthstone aim to be less random then say, Slay the Spire? Is randomness the correct tool to create novel experiences for players, and/or to model the unknowable complexity of the physical world? Finally what are examples of some games that handle the inclusion of randomness well, and how would you fix a game that handles randomness poorly?

Feetsalot

How the heck do you schedule your day? Week? Between coming up with video ideas, playing games, recording the videos, editing, writing scripts, networking, and reading other people's work, how do you find time for it all?

Ethan

Cat or dog person?

Maxime Pelletier

Any interest in dedicating a video to That Game Company title(s) or Walking Simulator(s)?

Maxime Pelletier

I like to think you have an hidden series on the Language of Video Games, featuring videos such as Far Cry 2, Ico, Morality mechanics, Fort Frolic, The Last Guardian and Psychonauts where the focus is on how specific games have leveraged design to convey experiences and emotions through tools unique to the medium. What other video would you put in that imaginary playlist? (Please don't say all of them in some fashion, what a cop-out).

Maxime Pelletier

Hey mark, did you ever tried to design an entire game from start to finish ? Stuff like board games can be 'easy' to produce and test compared to videogame, and documenting the whole project, with its pitfalls and successes could be an interesting series !

In your life, when was the hardest you've ever laughed?

Ryan Dunne

Hey Mark! You talk a lot about features in games that you love/ don’t like, but have you ever thought of an idea for a game (mechanic, premise, item, etc.) that you’ve never seen implemented? Keep up the great work!

Joseph Stanichar

What kind of car do you drive? What's your dream car?

cptnoremac

What types of video/written analysis of video games is missing in the current environment? What types of analysis would you like to see more of?

If you make a game about a conspiracy or secret, how can the player prove they understand? I've seen this happen in Hack 'n Slash and Doki Doki Literature Club but don't know the best solution, sometimes you understand the secret but don't know how to express it in a way the game detects.

droid

How should games relate to education?

droid

What is the game you are most excited about coming out this year?

What's your starter pokemon?

Pedro Tanaka Duarte

With the 3DS being on its last, last, *last* legs and with the videogames and TV industries having moved away from 3D years ago, what do you think 3D brought to gaming during its brief resurgence earlier this decade? Was it all just a fad or is there something there that is worth bringing into the future?

Luis Guillermo Jimenez Gomez

Certain games have positive effects on players, intentional or otherwise: playing Portal strengthens neural-plasticity, there are VR games specifically designed to alleviate pain during surgery, Animal Crossing has helped people with depression get through a hard time, fitness games, etc. Do you think there is an untapped potential for games to do even *more* good, and if so, how would you like to see that manifest? For example, games that teach mediation techniques, or are designed to strengthen self-image (they might exist already, but they should be more popular if so)?

Hello Mark, thanks again for GMTK and these Q&A sessions! I've been a gamer all my life, but as time goes on my availability for gaming has dwindled. At the same time there's so many more AAA and Indy games out there, and just by statistics alone there's a few all-star "must try" games per year. I am reluctant to dive in to a new franchise that all my friends and the media are raving about (Yakuza, God of War, even Hitman based on your videos). So my question: how do you choose a new game or genre? Besides that it's your job, of course. I mean, how do you build up the momentum to finally say "OK, let me give this a whirl"? Is that a strategy we can reduce to a formula? Or do you think it's all emotion? Do you draw from a framework, like, "I prefer strategy games" then try to deduce if a game is strategic or not [e.g. Enter the Breach seems obvious but so might be Tetris 99]. I really enjoy your Play List videos, because somehow your able to convey the concept to me, and the decision becomes immediate (oh yes, I need this, or- oh no, that's not what I want right now). But I wonder how (or if?) you come to the same revelation. Thanks for everything! Keep it up!

John Micale

who is best pony?

Szalhi

What Youtubers do you like to watch? And have you seen Dunkey before?

Harrison Kehler

Hey! You mentioned starting different series at the beginning of the year, when does that start? Will it ever start?

What made you get into making videos about video game design?

If you could choose the 4 DLC characters in Smash, who would they be and why?

Do you ever feel like designing a game of your own?

Hi Mark! As an avid concertgoer, I'm always curious about people's live music experiences. What's the best or most memorable concert you've attended? Thanks! -Ryan

mr_viper

Hey Mark! Pretty basic question, but I'm curious as to what your opinion would be on the matter. What would you say is the most overrated game released in the last few years?

What are your thoughts on the Darksiders series? I find Darksiders 1 to be the best interpretation of the 3D Zelda style of adventure games to the point where it feels like Zelda with a post apocalyptic skin over the top (in a good way!)

Mark, what game (new IP, remake, remaster) would make your jaw drop if it were announced? Personally I would be shocked if Konami remastered Metal Gear 1-4 for the PS4 (or at least 1-3 for switch). Just a fluff question, but I love to dream! Thanks man.

Zach Stasz

Hi, Mark! Have you ever thought about making a video on the subject of localisation ? Maybe I'm a little biased seeing as it is my research subject at the moment, but I think it could intersect quite nicely with your interest on accessibility in games.

What do you think about learning game design from books and have you read any?

Jovan Jovanovski

If you had to lock 3 games in a box and send it into space to show aliens what the medium of video games are all about, what 3 games would you include? Would you put the graphically impressive games of today, tightly designed indies, influential retro games, of all three?

Reid Harry

what was the most unexpected roadblock you've run into? what was the most memorable?

Pieter Pauwels

Hello! Do you think there are any specific games that you feel are slightly forgotten and wish more developers looked to for inspiration? And, do you think it's important to be critical and aware of what is going on in other mediums and art forms to create great games?

Robert Furey

Hi Mark! would you give feedback and advice about a indie game? not necessary in a video but a close mail or chat, how much would it cost or what I need to do? thanks!

Hi Mark, what was your favorite video to make?

Mitch Makurat

I have a sort of complex question, I hope that's okay! It's something I've been wanting to ask for a really long time! You've made your opinion very clear, regarding the evolution of the term "roguelike." But for many people, the term still refers to a more specific subset of games that are indeed more "like Rogue" - games such as Quest of Dungeons, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Crypt of the Necrodancer, NetHack, etc. Games where movement is turn-based, and the entire dungeon is tied to your input. This is, in fact, still the definition used on Wikipedia, which even uses an entirely different definition for "roguelite": "More recently, with more powerful home computers and gaming systems, new variations of roguelikes incorporating other gameplay genres, thematic elements and graphical styles have become popular, typically retaining the notion of procedural generation and permanent death of the player-character." "These titles are sometimes labeled as "roguelike-like", "rogue-lite", or "procedural death labyrinths" to reflect the variation from titles which mimic the gameplay of traditional roguelikes more faithfully." This conflicts with the definition you've personally come to start using, where the term "roguelike" can refer to platformers like Spelunky, twin stick shooters like Binding of Isaac, and sidescrolling action games like Dead Cells. You also make the distinction, contrary to the other definition of the term, that "roguelites" are a subset which offer a progression system outside of permadeath so that even in death, the game is still getting easier for the player. Of course, you aren't the only one using this definition, as many people in the industry are adopting it, or their own variants of the definition. But this inconsistency in what the terms mean is the cause for a fair amount of confusion. For example, I can talk to two developers who have entirely different understanding of these, lately, super common genre terms, yet when I say "first person shooter," that's almost universally agreed to mean one thing. And when I want to play a game "like Rogue," and I search Steam for "roguelikes," I end up with games like FTL and Rogue Legacy instead of what I'm searching for. So my questions are: 1. What suggestions do you have to bridge the gap between these two common definitions, or possibly to standardize one vs the other? 2. With your definitions in mind, what solutions do you suggest for those who are now struggling to find Berlin interpretation roguelikes because the term has now come to mean something almost entirely different?

Hi Mark, I teach video game design in elementary and middle schools around the Los Angeles area. I have noticed that a lot of your videos get blocked by schools’ online content filters (I’ve only been able to show Mario 3D world: 4 step level design). My question is, do you plan on editing some old videos or making new ones that better align with this filtration for more teaching opportunities?

I know you try not to turn your videos into pure opinion essays or reviews (and I admire that you even recently re-edited a video to make it more "fact"-based!), but do you ever wish that you were running a more review-based channel because you just want to gush about a game that you loved (or rag on a game you hated) even if you don't necessarily have anything more constructive or educational to say about it? Or have you at this point trained yourself so well that you can find something constructive to say in any type of praise or complaint?

Andy Hunter

Video essays are increasingly popular and if you watch enough they start to feel very similar. How do you try to set yourself apart from others doing the same type of videos on YouTube?

What video games do you think have gotten closest to the dynamic narrative potential of a tabletop RPG (where the plot can be adapted on the fly in response to player choices by a human Game Master), and how did they do it?

Dallon Feldner

Hi Mark! Here's my questions. Do you have plans on doing a video essay on MMO economy design? Or any MMO design stuff. How about game balancing for games designed for eSports? Thanks for all the videos. Keep up the good work!

Necther Louie

What is something you really want to talk about, but nobody ever asks about?

Hey man, do you meditate, write notes/thoughts or anything to relax your game analysist muscle, so it doesn’t interfere with your life in general?

Ole Hedegaard Madsen

Hello Mr Brown( sorry about previous comment) really love your work, you got me into toki tori 2 (the first one is a bit bland) And I really like the boss keys series, but I am afraid you missed one of the legend of Zelda games( or three), My question will you ever do an episode of GMTK, Boss keys, on the cdi games.

Tyler Duke

What is the very first video game you ever played?

Bryce Carter

Hey Mark, this is something of a sequel to the question I asked last time (about Visual Novels or summat), but: Are there any genres you feel you have to break in to and make videos about? I ask because if I look at your video output, you predominantly make videos about action, adventure, and puzzle games, or any combination of the three. You do have *some* videos about other genres (I wouldn't really call immersive sims a genre different from action in the strictest sense of the word, but there's Fallout and Bioshock), and I know you're working on a (series? of) video(s) about fighting games, but is there anything else you want to put a spotlight in terms of genre?

Lorenzo Hulzebos

I have two questions: how come I don't get notifications when videos go live now I'm no longer backing at the tier where I get access to them early? And have you ever been tempted to "remake" certain videos from earlier in the show's run to try and replace episodes you think have aged poorly or you no longer agree with?

Matt Cramp

Hi Mark. Very specific question here, hope that’s alright. In an open world game style, how would you design the enemies/areas of the open world so that there is a difficulty curve as the player progresses? Do you have any examples from the games you've played or researched?

Adam Taylor

You said several times that you may try to make a little game. Have you started yet ? If yes, how is it going ? It's something really different, so I wish you good luck on this new quest (^_ ^)/ Oh, and second question, do you plan to organize another GMTK Game Jam this year ? Do you have an idea for the dates yet ? Thanks \(*_ *)/

Hey, I really was wondering how you make your videos. I know that you once said that you start with just weeks of research, but I think it would be interesting to know how you approach scripts and editing. And as a bonus question (I hope that's ok): Is there any common...thing in modern games, that you think actually hurts the game itself, or the other way around?

Hi Mark! Can you talk about setting parameters and values in Turnbased RPG battle in games like Early DQ or FF, Darkest dungeon or even rougelikes? Play testing is always an answer but I wonder if you have more to share :)

Hey, Mark! I live in Ukraine and most game companies here create free-to-play games. Is it possible to swap into PC/Console game development but with free-to-play game development experience? How problematic it may be?

Hi Mark! Could you give some advice on starting a script? I've been wanting to make videos for a while, but usually I just end up staring at a blank page until I get tired. Do you have any structure or something to get the ball rolling? Thank you for your time! :)

A game you love that everybody hates (or the critical/audience perception is that its a bad game) and a game that everybody loves/ is critically acclaimed that you don't much like

Aakash Karkare

Do you consider any video games as "true" examples of art? I like to think Shadow of the Colossus as art with all the use of minimalism in it's mechanics/music/story. Plus the tragic irony in it's story is so powerful in my opinion. I know Hideo Kojima doesn't consider video games art and he makes very good reasons on why they shouldn't be considered as such. Just wanted to know your thoughts :)

Hello Mark, I have a design question. Do you think the past decade's obsession with photorealistic graphics and ultrarealistic games has hurt the quality and/or the originality of mechanics in such games?

Hey Mark! I noticed that I tend to approach games differently than I do with life. Celeste has taught me to be proud of persevering despite my failures, but still take breaks when I feel like it's getting too frustrating. DnD got me comfortable with the unexpected, to go with the flow and to trust myself to find a solution to a tricky situation. And I have to admit that I've become a bit of a geek when it comes to self development because it's fun to think of new ways to do things and make life more enjoyable. I believe that games could help tackle some pretty big issues. What are your thoughts on this?

I'll ask a few, feel free to pick and choose, or ignore completely : ) - Do you have a particular mission statement or goal when making videos? E.g. it should do this, it shouldn't do this. - Is there anything you'd like to see more of in games? This could be personal taste or something you'd be intrigued to try, or like a design principle or something that would benefit the industry as a whole. Also the opposite - is there anything you'd like to see less of? Beyond the more frequently given complaints e.g. microtransactions. - More curious here but are there any games that you'd consider 'favourites' or that are particularly close to your heart for whatever reason - nostalgia etc?

Mark M

What's your favorite From Software game? Do you have a plan to play Sekiro?

What's your favourite thing to bake?

Dan Root

Hi Mark, what are the better ways for an indie developer to call attention to their games or studio? (Events, specific publishing platforms...?)

What are your thoughts on the use of the term “walking simulators” to describe games like Night In The Woods, To The Moon, What Remains of Edith Finch, etc.? Personally, I find it kinda degrading, almost like it’s saying that “it’s not a real game.”

Gonna cheat and ask 2 questions, hopefully they’re not too personal! 1 - What advice would you give for someone wanting to start their own video series, similar to the GMTK format, but on a different type of design. It’s something I’ve thought about doing a lot to supplement / take over my full-time job as a designer 2 - What’s your background? Where’d you grow up and what / where did you study to get into games journalism in the first place? Cheers!

Matt Hauke

Hello from Oxford! What, for you, is an unforgivable opinion that other people have about games (such as FIFA being GOTY material or Visual Novels are not really video games?)

Jonas Gawe

Hi Mark! So I know you used to work at Pocket Gander, so how did you get into games journalism in the first place?

Alice

Hey Mark! How do you feel about games that are obstinately designed, as in they don't care about tutorials or introduction but are deep and well loved by the fans who stick through them (like Europa Universalis, Dwarf Fortress and other 4X games)? Seems like they're somewhat similar to roguelikes in how they have a high but constant difficulty that players need to force themselves to meet? Thanks so much for what you do!

Hi Mark, a design question: Why do you think there is so little experimentation with systemic gameplay based around persuasive interactions (like the "social boss battles" from Human Revolution) and how can we make them fun and varied enough to build entire games on them? Is there even a target audience for that?

Mikhail Aristov

You often say that you want more non-violent games and at the same time you don't seem to care that much about story, this is puzzling to me. When you say you want non-violent games do you mean that you want more games where the fiction doesn't contain violence, or more games with "non-violent" mechanics? If you took a standard FPS and reskinned it to be a paintball game, the mechanics would be the same but the fiction wouldn't contain violence, would that do it for you or are you really asking for new mechanic? If it's the latter, wouldn't new mechanics be as interesting even if they fictionaly speaking were violent?

1. I've been playing a ton of beat em ups/ hack and slashes recently, mostly the Yakuza and Devil May Cry series. Any plans on making a video on these types of games? 2. Same question but for fighting games. 3. Whats your opinion on the Mother series? Earthbound is definitely my favorite game and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

Can I borrow a napkin?

Hi Mark, did you eat your Coco Pops with milk ? If yes, did you put the milk after or before the cereals in the bowl ?