Category: Game Design

AI Is a Tool. Not a Designer.

Posted on by Myles Blasonato in Analysis, Blog, Game Design

AI is at its best when it’s doing work, not thinking. Bulk tasks, renaming assets, cleaning data, writing quick editor scripts, handling batch operations, setting up repetitive structures. That’s where it delivers real value. It removes friction from production so you can focus on the part that actually matters: designing the game. Used properly, it accelerates output without interfering with intent. The problem is that most teams aren’t using it this way. They’re pushing it into areas it doesn’t belong, expecting it to generate ideas, content, and even systems. That’s not acceleration. That’s substitution. And the moment you substitute design thinking with generation, you lose something fundamental...

The Compression Problem in Modern Game Design

Posted on by Myles Blasonato in Analysis, Blog, Game Design

One of the most significant structural shifts in modern game design is something I call interaction compression. It refers to the reduction of layered, multi-step mechanical processes into simplified activation. What used to require coordination between systems is now often resolved through a single input. In earlier systemic designs, success came from aligning multiple variables. A stealth scenario wasn’t a button prompt. It was a negotiation between light, sound, positioning, and timing. The player wasn’t triggering stealth. They were constructing it through interaction...

Your Systems Aren’t Broken. Your Rules Just Aren’t Consistent.

Posted on by Myles Blasonato in Analysis, Blog, Game Design

Modern games are filled with systems. Combat, traversal, AI, physics, interaction, progression. On paper, that should create depth. In practice, it often creates fragmentation. Each system works. But they don’t agree with each other. The result isn’t obvious bugs. It’s something more subtle. The player experiences the world as unstable. Something works in one moment, then fails in another, even though it looks like it should behave the same way...

Your Game Feels Flat Because Nothing Pushes Back

Posted on by Myles Blasonato in Analysis, Blog, Game Design

Most developers assume a game feels shallow because it doesn’t have enough content. More enemies, more abilities, more progression layers. But players don’t disengage because there’s too little to do. They disengage because nothing in the game resists them. If the player can always move forward without pressure, without limitation, and without meaningful consequence, the experience becomes automatic...

Your Game Isn’t Shallow. Your Systems Just Don’t Interact.

Posted on by Myles Blasonato in Analysis, Blog, Game Design

Shallow games are rarely the result of missing content. They are the result of systems that operate in isolation. You can have combat, progression, abilities, enemies, and upgrades all functioning correctly on their own, but if they do not influence each other, the player runs out of meaningful decisions. When systems do not interact, the player stops thinking. When thinking stops, engagement drops...

Immersive Design: Activation vs Construction

Posted on by Myles Blasonato in Analysis, Blog, Game Design

One of the most important distinctions in systemic game design is the difference between activation and construction. Both create interaction, but they operate in fundamentally different ways and lead to very different player experiences. Activation occurs when the player triggers a pre-authored outcome. A specific input produces a specific response and the system resolves the interaction in a predictable way. The mechanic functions exactly as intended and the player simply confirms the action...

AI Asset Factories and the Problem with AI-Generated Games

Posted on by Myles Blasonato in Blog, Game Design, News

A Vienna-based startup called Atlas has launched AI Studio, a platform designed to automate large portions of game asset production using coordinated AI agents. The system allows developers to describe production tasks in natural language while a network of AI tools generates models, textures, materials, collision data, and level-of-detail variants before exporting the assets directly into engines such as Unity, Unreal Engine, or Blender...

Immersive Design: System Stacking and Emergent Density

Posted on by Myles Blasonato in Analysis, Blog, Game Design

One of the defining characteristics of immersive design is the way systems interact with each other. In many traditional designs, mechanics are implemented as isolated features. A stamina bar affects combat. A stealth system determines whether enemies detect you. A physics system moves objects. Each mechanic exists, but they rarely influence one another in meaningful ways...

Australia’s Game Development Education Sector Is Expanding – What It Means for Future Developers

Posted on by Myles Blasonato in Blog, Game Design, News

Australia’s game development education sector has grown rapidly over the past six years, reflecting the broader expansion of the country’s interactive entertainment industry. According to recent data, the Australian games sector generated $284.4 million in revenue and added 770 new jobs in 2022, bringing the workforce to more than 2,100 full-time professionals...

Immersive Design: Understanding Systemic Scope

Posted on by Myles Blasonato in Analysis, Blog, Game Design

Systemic Scope is about designing your game so that as much of the experience as possible emerges from interacting systems rather than handcrafted sequences. Animated cutscenes take time. Scripted story beats take time. Bespoke boss encounters take time. Custom levels take time. Every authored moment is a one-off expense. Once consumed, it’s gone. Systems behave differently. A tight core loop built on interacting rules can generate far more longevity than hours of handcrafted content. That’s why arcade games, roguelike structures, and simulation-driven designs often outlive cinematic experiences. They are loopable, replayable, and expressive...