Atari Game Design has moved from 1:00pm on Saturday to 11:30am on Saturday! So, our full PAX South 2016 schedule is as follows.

Atari Game Design
Saturday, January 30th at 11:30am
Bobcat Theatre

Game design is a wide subject. The best approach to mastering it is to focus on the fundamentals, and what better place to do that than with Atari 2600 games? Join us for a deep game design analysis of classic competitive Atari games like Outlaw, and how their core concepts extend to modern games. When you can literally count the pixels with your eyes, and the code will fit in your calculator, the core principles of good (and bad) design become starkly apparent.


Scared Yet: A Discussion of Horror in Games
Saturday, January 30th at 5:30pm
Bobcat Theatre

Jump scare! Kris Straub (Broodhollow, Candle Cove) and a panel of esteemed horror and video game enthusiasts hold an informal roundtable on where fear works best in gaming, and where it doesn't make the cut. Come for the frightening… stay for the enlightening! Nope, that was bad. Please delete that.

Kris Straub [Chainsawsuit], Susan Arendt [Managing Editor, GamesRadar], Dabe Alan [Penny Arcade], Brandon Rym DeCoster [Producer, GeekNights]


Designing Game Rules
Sunday, January 31st at 1:00pm
Bobcat Theatre

The rules of a game literally define it. In videogames, they are intrinsic limitations. In tabletop, players must enforce them. In all games, players need to learn them. There are good and bad ways to teach a game. From awful tutorials to unparseable rulebooks, elegant demos to hour-long slogs, join us for a mechanical discussion of how game rules are (and should be) written, how players learn games, and why so few people are willing to read a 100 page rulebook (nevermind the appendices)!