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Video: How to build games that can be understood at a glance

At GDC 2018 indie dev Zach Gage (TypeShift, Really Bad Chess) gave a great talk about how important it is to think about how people will encounter your game -- right from day one of development.

May 3, 2018

2 Min Read
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When you spend years working on a game, it can be all too easy to stagger into your launch with just a handful of random screenshots, some quickly-written description text, and a gameplay trailer.

That's better than nothing, but at GDC 2018 indie dev Zach Gage (TypeShift, Really Bad Chess) gave a great talk about how important it is to think about how people will encounter your game right from day one of development.

In his presentation Gage walked devs through how he tries to make games that will be attractive to someone looking over a player's shoulder on the subway, sitting next to a player on an airplane, or minding their own business on Twitter.

It was a great talk that included a very concise "band poster" rule of thumb (basically, make your game easily readable at 3 different distances), so if you missed it at the show this year don't miss your shot to now watch his talk for free on the official GDC YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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