Live at PAX East 2024
February 15 2024
Every Game is the Same Game
Sunday, 2:30 PM in the Dragonfly Theatre
How often do you describe a new game as "X game crossed with Y game?" This is Dominion crossed with Chess. This is Quake crossed with Dance Dance Revolution. This is a Civilization-style game but with puzzle elements. If games are collections of mechanics, and genres are also essentially collections of mechanics, then we can dig deep into how games are described to find the deepest and most core patterns of game. In the end it's all just entertainment software!
The 39 Games You Must Play
Sunday, 4:30 PM in the Condor Theatre
These may not be the top 39 games ever designed, nor are they the top 39 influential or otherwise important games. If you aspire to really understand games, or if you have visions of designing your own, these are 39(ish) games that, if you play them, will give you the widest possible perspective on what it means to make a good game (and what "good" even means).
The second is a new iteration of The 40 Games You Must Play we did back in 2019, but with a new list of games to try!