Ludus Novus Episode 001: Press Enter to Continue
Cutscenes: when are they appropriate, and when do they take away from the game? Correction: In the original version of this episode, I attribute Nothing But Mazes to Stephen Granade, but it is actually...
View ArticleLudus Novus 002: Telling It Like It Is
The unreliable narrator: how do you use this technique when the narrator is usually the player character? The music for this episode is “Noite de Carnaval” by Code, and is available under a cc by-nc...
View ArticleLudus Novus 003: Not the Same Thing After All
Variable player experience: What do we mean by interaction, and how can two players have different experiences with the same work? The music for this episode is Enrique Granados’s “Spanish Dance n. 2”...
View ArticleLudus Novus 004: Hurt Me Plenty
Difficulty and completeness: Why do games have to be hard, and how is finishing a game separate from completing it? The music for this episode is “Big Bad World One” by Jonathan Coulton, and is...
View ArticleLudus Novus 005: Level Cap
Length of works: is a given game most like a short story or a novel, and how can length affect content? References: Morrowind from Bethesda Softworks Jigsaw by Graham Nelson “Slouching Toward Bedlam”...
View ArticleLudus Novus 006: False Narrativism: Walking Away
The game Walking Away: In what ways does it succeed at what it attempts? The music for this episode is “Criminal” by Peter Toh, used with permission. References: Deus Ex by Ion Storm and published by...
View ArticleLudus Novus 007: Who Am I?
Amnesia. Can anyone remember why it’s so common in interactive entertainment? The music for this episode is “Forgettin My Identity” by Jane His Wife, and is available under a Creative Commons...
View ArticleLudus Novus 008: State of the Art
60 years of video games. How are we doing? The music for this episode is “Brilliant Day (fourstones.net mix)” by fourstones and DeBenedictis, and is available under a Creative Commons...
View ArticleLudus Novus 009: Extra Life
Death in games is usually a mistake. In these four indie games, it’s an intended part of the experience. The music for this episode is “Make You Cry” by Jonathan Coulton, and is available under a...
View ArticleLudus Novus 010: ELIZA Is Dead
Is the illusion of player agency as good as real player agency? Isn’t a video game just a simulated game master? Is the Chinese Room a good game? If the author is dead, what about the algorithm? The...
View ArticleLudus Novus 011: Written in Blood
In this podcast, I discuss the player-author contract. An interactive work sets up a trust between the player and the work’s author. This takes the form of a contract which, when violated, can cause...
View ArticleLudus Novus 012: Genre Fiction
In this podcast, I discuss digital games genres and how I think they’re silly. They’re arbitrary niches based on a few popular games, and using them to describe games limits the way we think about...
View ArticleLudus Novus 013: Over the Next Hill
In this podcast, I talk about exploration games. Exploration games, as I categorize them, are games with an open world that offer an array of paths at any one time. They’re awesome because they appeal...
View ArticleLudus Novus 014: From Side to Side
The classic Super Mario Bros. Let’s take a look at its influence and its gameplay. References: Super Mario Bros. by Nintendo The Legend of Zelda by Nintendo Final Fantasy by Square Bubble Bobble by...
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Ludus Novus 015: Curse of Ludus Novus
What do we look for in digital game sequels, and why is it different than in other forms of media? Why don’t we see more sequels that give us more of the same good stuff? References: Spider-Man and...
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Ludus Novus 016: False Narrativism: Oszustwo
This week’s episode is a special False Narrativism piece, discussing the obscure but visionary Polish game Oszustwo, or Incongruity. I can easily envision a world in which this game never existed, but...
View ArticleLudus Novus 017: The Rules of the Game
In this podcast episode, I present and discuss my definition of the word “game.” In short, a game is an interactive simulation that provides metrics which allow a user to track progress toward a goal....
View ArticleLudus Novus 018: Sequelitis
This podcast episode is about three games that should have been named Half-Life 3: Episode 1, Unreal Tournament 4, and Star Wars Dark Forces 3: Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast: Jedi Academy.
View ArticleLudus Novus 019: False Narrativism: Awesome Zone
This podcast episode is about an unreleased game from 1990 that a guy showed me at GDC. It’s called Awesome Zone, and it was created by developer Theodore Alby for a company called KnowSoft over the...
View ArticleLudus Novus 020: Acceptable Losses
In this episode of the Ludus Novus podcast, I discuss the basic minion summoning and equipment mechanics of Overlord, and how they both encourage tactical gameplay and maintain the characterization of...
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