Review: Leaving Mundania

"Leaving Mundania "

by Lizzie Stark

A nonfiction story about the crazy folks who dress up like characters from fiction and battle each other. Why do we participate in something so outlandish? What do people get out of this weird thing called larp? Lizzie wanted to know, and this book is the story of her finding out.

Gunpoint

The technoir tale of Gunpoint is amazing.  The game itself reminds me of the technology, film noir crossover of Automata by Penny Arcade.  It takes about 3 hours to play through.  Quick to learn and fast paced.  You'll be rewiring lights, and doors in no time flat playing as Richard Conway Professional Spy, Amateur Electrician, Weaponised Jerk.  You can prepare detailed plans of cause and effect tweaked to your hearts content.  Inevitably there are two results.

"The Lean Startup" vs Spaghetti Sauce

Our investors suggested I read “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries.  


I’m glad they did.  The book is well written and filled with examples from either the authors own experience or companies operating under similar circumstances.  All suggestions came from practical experience and are immediately relevant to my current experience as a start-up.  If you're starting a company, or running a project with vaguely defined goals, it will be relevant to you too.


Overall this book is really about applying the scientific process to business; specifically the product development cycle.  This book helps you understand what to measure and why.  Although the focus of the book is mostly on new businesses the process presented could be used by project managers to create small scope projects in existing organizations…  Assuming they can get autonomy.  As my Project Management professor said “Get permission in writing.”

In a way Malcolm Gladwell: Choice, Happiness and Spaghetti Sauce is a better argument for a lean startup in established organizations then the book Lean Startup is.  There are very similar themes running through this book and the presentation.  Gladwell’s discussion of large companies finding the perfect products through metrics driven iteration might sell the strategy, while The Lean Startup elaborates on the specific tactics which might otherwise scare an established corporate machine.

If you’re an entrepreneur starting a new venture, of just about any kind, giving The Lean Startup a read will get you started off on the right foot.  Your scope will shrink, your costs will decrease, and your chance of success will increase if you take his lessons to heart because you will realize that bloated scope, high costs and high risk aren’t necessary for making big changes in today’s world.  Iterative design fits in very well with the work of paper prototyping, and right before (and during for best results) all the marketing that needs to happen.  But really Lean Startup is a methodology for how to behave as a company in the modern world.

Dungeon Keeper II

by Jeremy Springfield

Instead of discussing new and upcoming titles which have successful kick-starters, this week I want to use my long post to discuss on older title. Dungeon Keeper II is an oft overlooked classic of the RTS Genre and one of my all time favorite games.  One could imagine a parallel track of RTS designs based on the ideas expressed in DKII.  Alas, the world never saw such ideas.  Glimpse this alternate reality below the jump!

Indie Game: The Movie

Although shown locally at the Brattle Theatre, I watched Indie Game: The Movie on Netflix.  It really doesn't feel like 6 months have gone by between each event.  Wow.  Anyway it is a great movie, and sums up a lot of the feel of the development environment of the Boston indie scene.

Makers and Game Developers

Here is a chunk of the text called "The Long Tail of Lego" from the book "Makers: The New Industrial Revolution" by Chris Anderson.

To wrap the section up quickly for you, it talks about the transition from old manufacturing to modern manufacturing.  The difference between the original mass production Ford style assembly line, and a new emerging model.  In the new model a primary company produces the same goods using classic manufacturing techniques (Lego), but then niche companies produce specific products, where there is demand, but not enough for the primary company to produce product (BrickArms).

I wonder how well this model describes the relationship between AAA and indie games.  AAA companies churn out mass produced, but popular, titles under manufacturing like conditions.  Indie studios produce smaller title that smaller niche segments of the population are interesting in playing.

"Crossing the Chasm" by Geoffrey A Moore.

"Crossing the Chasm"
by Geoffrey A Moore.

I wrote this post a long long time ago, and was shocked that it wasn't posted yet.  This book is so fundamental to how I view technology, and the foundation of some of the blog posts about Minecraft.  In retrospect this should have been posted first to give you a chance to read it before jumping into a discussion of 'the technology innovation curve'.

"Head First Java" by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates

"Head First Java" 2nd Edition
by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates

The 'Head First' in this book has a double meaning.  You are diving into Java head first, but you are also considering how the mind works.  The authors know how best to teach people about a topic which can be occasionally less than interesting...  By leveraging the way our brains process information.

Applying knowledge of human behavior to any topic is interesting to me.  Combining two geeky topics is always a winner.  With the background information, the pictures, and lots of 'why' as well as what this is a great book to learn Java from.  The exercises never feel like a burden, many of them had me running to my computer to test them out.  They also switch things up with puzzles, crosswords, and matching games to keep anything from getting repetitive and boring.

This book is definitely not written like a text book.  Although it would make a great text book for any Java class.  To supplement the information in this book head over to thenewboston and watch a few of Bucky Robert's tutorials.  Overall I am very pleased with "Head First Java" as a first book on the topic.

Next week's post is a great write up of wire framing a game design!  Stick around, its a great post.  On the fourteenth we're going to have a guest poster.  If you would like to guest post contact me.

Orcs must Die!

And they are!  By the thousands!

"Rules for Revolutionaries" by Guy Kawasaki

"Rules for Revolutionaries"
By Guy Kawasaki

This book was assigned reading at Boston University, and should be assigned reading for any game business start up or even a first project.  One of my professor, who is a serial entrepreneur and sits on the boards of start-ups, wanted us to read this book.  It's a short book, a quick read, but the rules Guy has put down are critical.  You can get the same general information by watching videos of Guy present his talks...  But they always change a little bit.  If you want all his ideas in one place this is the place.  Here is a youtube video that gives you a flavor for the man and his ideas.

Anyone with a business, a game project, a product, or a service  can benefit from understanding the philosophy of Apple Computers.  If you are an Apple fanatic and wonder 'how do they do it', this is how, written by one of the guys (ha) that helped build their corporate culture.

If you have talked to me for any length of time about business development or game development I have quoted two of Guy's rules.  "Don't worry, be crappy!" and "Churn, baby, churn!"  they are fundamental tenants of how I go about things.

"Game On" by Jon Radoff

"Game On; Energize your business with social media games" 
by Jon Radoff

First Impressions:
I picked up the book and flipped through the index to see what was in store for me.  I got excited about the book just reading the index.  The topics the book covers excited me because they are relevant to me.  That excitement is completely justified.  The book promises, and delivers, detailed, multi layered information about more than just game design and development.  You get some history, some theory, and a whole lot of practical ideas and suggestions about creating social games specifically, and all kinds of games generally.

For example the first chapter contains a quiz that sort the reader into one of three categories.  They indicate multiple points of view to enjoy the rest of the book from.  Then Jon explains that humans enjoy taking quizes, and enjoy sorting themselves into groups they identify with.  Brilliant.  Absolutely brilliant.  Without telling you Jon has shown you a game, which you have opted to play of your own choice.  He has facilitated you self sorting into a category which includes a cute little icon.  All of which you are happy to do.  All the while telling you that it's ok to skip this or that part making you feel like you are completely in control of your experience through the book.  It slowly dawns on you that he has demonstrated, in the first chapter, exactly the kind of thing that he has promised in the book.

"Game On" is clearly targeted at non gamers wanting to build social games.  It reads as though written to hold the hand of someone who is may be a professional, but doesn't understand the first thing about social games.  But don't be fooled into thinking that it is a book only for social games.  For example The ZoRTS project is not a social game, but I found tons of applicable material in this book.  If you have a game project, or are thinking about starting one, reading this book will force you to think about how you design your project, how the game itself works, and where the fun is for the players.  More than just a text on designing social games to promote a brand or product, "Game On" teaches enough about game design topic that amateurs will get something out the book.

Jon is like a magician who can make his magic tricks more splendid by showing you how they work.  He pulls back the curtain on games and gaming, but instead of revealing a disappointing Wizard, you find something even more amazing and splendid then you thought it would be.

"How to Think like Leonardo daVinci" by Michael Gelb

At the moment there are so many blog posts scheduled, that everyone gets a bonus post this week!  This post is inspired by 101 ways to draw more traffic to your site. In case you don't know The Traffic Blogger I highly recommend you check him out.  More then just blogging about blogging, he runs the incredible Just My Two Copper forum/post/community (marketing machine).  I've learned a lot from both of his ventures.

"98. Write about someone famous who has been dead for more than 200 years. Incorporate their story into a lesson about your niche."

That line caused instantaneous inspiration.  Leonardo Da Vinci.  We know that he's one of the smartest and most creative people that has ever lived.  Have there been people as smart, and as creative since or before?  Sure there have.  But we don't know them because Leonardo was genius enough to write his thoughts and ideas down.  He kept a journal.

Years ago, while working at a bookstore, I found a book called "How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci". The cliché "It changed my life" is true.  Although I would add "In a subtle but profound way".  I have held onto this book for years because it contains great lessons learned by studying the life and genius of da Vinci.

Keeping a journal is the piece of advice that is life altering.  Applying that advice to game design is brilliant.  Write down all your game design ideas; no matter how big or small.  All RPG character ideas, all LARP ideas, and CCG ideas.  Anything.  Once you have all these little ideas floating around in your journals, start to connect them together.

Another approach is to refine and collect those ideas in a new medium.  You might think that this blog is the original journal.  However it's actually a refinement, a revision of that journal.  The ideas of this blog are culled out of ideas from journals.  Ideas combine and form, and become something new.  Like Alchemy.  ;)

This method of taking notes and then refining them is a good way to study something.  The difference between knowledge and understanding is application.  If you can apply knowledge (data on something) in some way you gain understanding.  Start by writing down notes in a journal, and then rewriting those notes into something useful to someone else (or yourself later).  I feel that it's important to have a hand written journal, and from that create a digital version.  Each format is a very different medium and that helps the brain process the knowledge into understanding.   

When younger I wrote angst ridden emotional junk about my current circumstances, thinking that a journal was a catalog of every emotional thing that happened mixed in with all the ideas.  Good journals are not diaries.  Avoid that temptation.  Years later you will want to throw that crap away.  Luckily I kept one diary full of angst and one journal full of ideas.  All the drawings and ideas had a much more positive emotional association years later then all the drama.  The diary got thrown out because it was too embarrassing to look at.

I should reread the book and write another book review to go with Inbound Marketing.

"Inbound Marketing" by Brian Halligan, Dharmesh Shah

"Inbound Marketing: Get Found using Google, Social Media, and Blogs"
by Brian Halligan, Dharmesh Shah

This book is really useful if you know nothing about marketing, and most likely useful if you know a lot about traditional marketing.  Despite a cohort of class mates which work for Boston Marketing Firms, I know nothing about Marketing. As such this was a very informative read for me.  This book has great advice about how to get the word out about the work that you are doing.  Tons of great information about creating content, using the content to get found and ranked, and then converting visitors of that content into users/buyers.

The book talks about getting the basics set up; analytic, and analysis tools.  It talks about the mechanics and infrastructure required to have an effective blog.  Additionally it speaks to the timing of when you would want to start blogging about a product or service.  Combine the information in Inbound Marketing with the suggestions found on thetrafficblogger.com and you will quickly build a great community around your game.

One critical tool recommend in the book, that I really want to remember, is blog.grader.com.  Sure they grade the blog and measure your SEO... which is not that important to a new blogger.  But more importantly for new bloggers they offer a list of tools that should be on each website.  As a side note check out the rest of Hubspot's tools and services as well.  They have some neat information there about blogging and entrepreneurship.

Even if you think you know about getting your message out there, reading Inbound Marketing will make you realize ways to leverage that communication a little better.  It will fill in the reasons why taking steps to communicate through multiple channels simultaneously makes sense.  And the book also provides quick recaps which basically function as checklists.  These are helpful to make sure that you have not missed a critical step.

This book did not teach everything about marketing and blogging.  It did teach me the kinds of things that I needed to look at.  It showed me the areas that needed more practice.  "Inbound Marketing" acted as a jumping off point for a whole lot more.