Weekly Links #136

Hello, everyone! Despite difficulties that nearly killed the event, Ludum Dare 36 took place last weekend. My friends Chip Caramel and Jimun were at it again, and came up with their best game yet. Check this out:

Around the same time, I was briefly involved in a Tumblr conversation about the point of videogames, and the consensus is what I've been pointing out for years now: that games express themselves through the way they interact with players, and unless a game mechanic is front and center, what you have isn't a game. Read for details.

On a similar note, Alexis Kennedy of Fallen London and Sunless Sea fame explains why more content won't save your game — a write-up that starts kind of abruptly, but has a lot to say by the end. And still in the game design department, here's the first installment in a comparative history of videogames from the perspective of inventory systems. Knowing how tricky it is to make a good one, I say that's as useful as it is unusual.

I'll end with a little bit of history. Remember a while ago when Jason Scott recovered the source code for the original Prince of Persia? Turns out he's been at it again, making available previously unknown alpha and beta builds of Karateka -- Jordan Mechner's other classic. Game designers can now see how the seminal beat'em up took shape, and that's no less important than writers being able to read the early drafts of famous novels or poems from centuries past.

On that thought, I'll leave you enjoy the Sunday. Have a great next week.