Grand Text Auto

Modeling health system dynamics with a game of tag about zombies? Sounds impossible, but the Tiltfactor team experimented with just such a wacky game on the Dartmouth Green! The human team runs away from the zombies, because if they get tagged then they have to change teams. Meanwhile, the humans can choose to call in one type of specialist per round: either the soldiers to stun the zombies (you can’t kill them, duh), the medics to heal tagged humans, or the scientists to turn the zombies back into humans.

In our current project on implicit bias and stereotype threat, we are making some games for middle-school aged girls. One of the problems we consistently encounter in designing these games is the societal taboo against girls gaming, and its effect on our target audience. This piece by Clementine, a lab affiliate, sheds a little light on why there is a dearth of women and other marginalized groups in online games, and why it’s important to have a welcoming community.
-Max

Games are by definition about reward. You can’t have a game that doesn’t reward you in some way for doing something. Most games have both long-term rewards (say, winning in Monopoly), and short-term rewards (say, receiving money when someone lands on your hotel). I think it’s quite clear that these rewards are what make games so appealing to us as humans. In general, we like being rewarded for performing well.

When I find myself addicted to a digital game, I often find myself dreaming of and longing for a particular mechanic of the game. Below is a list of some game mechanics that I’ve found myself addicted to in the past:

Today is the last chance to get POX at the preorder discount! So order today if you want to buy POX for $21.95, because tomorrow it will cost $25!

Tomorrow if you have ‘liked’ our facebook page, then you’ll have a chance to win a free POX game and Tilt T-shirt! So if you haven’t done so yet, ‘like’ Tiltfactor right now!

We want POX (the game) to spread everywhere, so Tiltfactor is announcing the POX Outbreak Giveaway. Simply ‘like’ our facebook page for a chance to win a free copy of POX!

On 9/1 we will draw 2 names from everyone liking our facebook page. First prize is a copy of POX – 2nd Edition. The runner up will receive a Tiltfactor T-shirt.

What are you waiting for? Start liking!

For the past several weeks the Tilt team has been working on (among other things) a zombie-themed board game.  After several different versions with tons of interesting mechanics, we’re closing in on our final design!  Work together with your fellow players to evacuate the office before the outbreak escapes into the city.  Over the next few weeks we’re going to be testing and revising, and you should look forward to seeing a prototype in early August. We’re researching cooperative play with this one too, a hallmark of our design approach.

Want to get your undead on?  Come play the game at Gen Con, the EPIC game convention in Indianapolis!