Simon Strange's Profile

I was a big fan of the E&L TMNT comics back in the day. They were awesome, gritty, and had a great bit of world-building. I always felt like the Pizza-Hut turtles were an awful reflection of the "true" TMNT... Continue reading

Posted Nov 8, 2012 at Strange Design

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The danger of "always live" development - how Disney killed Fix-It Felix on iOS

A week or two back I grabbed "Fix-it Felix" for free on my iPad. I know some of the folks making the official "Wreck-it Ralph" DS / console game, I'm looking forward to seeing the film, and the premise looked... Continue reading

Posted Nov 6, 2012 at Strange Design

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Week of Gaming #109 - 11/04/12

It's been a good gaming week - I'm enjoying my new balance between console, PC, and tablet. Now if only I had a reason to fire up my 3DS... Games of note this week: 1 - X:Com - Enemy Unknown... Continue reading

Posted Nov 4, 2012 at Strange Design

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Week of Gaming #107 - 10/21/12

Having a real TV & Console set-up in my house has totally brought me back to console gaming, which is a refreshing change after the past 9 months or so without. I really enjoyed the time spent playing Starcraft 2,... Continue reading

Posted Oct 21, 2012 at Strange Design

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Scoping with Play-Doh

I've been doing a lot of pitch work recently - giving big ideas and high-level overviews of proposed new projects. It's a fun time in a project because it's incredibly easy in some respects - since the project does not... Continue reading

Posted Oct 18, 2012 at Strange Design

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Considering: FTL

FTL has been in the gaming press the past few weeks, and for good reason - it is excellent. At the core, FTL is a really tight ship simulator. On that framework there is combat, economy, and a few canned... Continue reading

Posted Sep 27, 2012 at Strange Design

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Good breaks, Bad breaks, Bathroom breaks

Good Breaks Ten years ago "mini-games" was an inescapable term in the industry. Every major proposal had to include some number of non-standard gameplay elements sprinkled throughout your AAA game design. Training mini-games in Fight Night, rail-shooter levels in Turok,... Continue reading

Posted Sep 26, 2012 at Strange Design

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Predictions for the Future of Dead Consoles

I've discussed consoles from time to time - back in April I wrote a post explaining that consoles were well and truly dead as the vanguard of gaming. Today, anticipating the launch of the WiiU, I thought I'd explain again... Continue reading

Posted Sep 18, 2012 at Strange Design

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Week of Gaming #102 - 9/16/12

My Xbox is still attached to my PC monitor, which has re-enabled console gaming for me after a modest dry spell. Unfortunately mo work load has been relatively high this week, so it hasn't seen the time investment I would... Continue reading

Posted Sep 16, 2012 at Strange Design

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Week of Gaming #99 - 08/26/12

Oh Dungeons of Dredmor... how could I ever have let you go?... Games of note this week: 1 - Conquest of the Wizardlands 2 - Dungeon Raid 3 - Hero Academy 4 - Marvel vs. Capcom 2 5 - New... Continue reading

Posted Aug 27, 2012 at Strange Design

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Our first original Kaiju...

The Kaiju Combat project has been sucking away a LOT of my time recently, so I'm pleased to finally have a few things to show off to the public. #1 - We have two original monsters to announce: Moratitan and... Continue reading

Posted Aug 26, 2012 at Strange Design

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Week of Gaming #96 - 08/05/12

This week I've been doing a bit of diving into the new Dredmor expansion - though not nearly as much as I'd like to! The big winner this week, however, is clearly Dungeon Raid on the iPad. SO GOOD! Games... Continue reading

Posted Aug 5, 2012 at Strange Design

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Indeed, I am already working on such an expansion! I'm targeting August 9th.

Commented Aug 4, 2012 on Dungeons of Dredmor Strategy Guide Part 6: More Builds at Strange Design

Zynga's Predicament

Zynga's still getting a lot of press after their huge losses last Wednesday. Journalists are scrambling over one another to get an accurate prediction of Zynga's future established - but everyone admits that the industry is too new, and the... Continue reading

Posted Jul 27, 2012 at Strange Design

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Week of Gaming #93 - 07/15/12

This week I've been consumed by the social duties of running a large Kickstarter campaign... but I've managed to balance it just a bit better than last week. Mostly by starting a few new games - that's always good for... Continue reading

Posted Jul 15, 2012 at Strange Design

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Week of Gaming #92 - 07/08/12

A very emotional week for me - the Kaiju Combat kickstarter went live 5 days ago, and has been a very mixed bag thus far. Near-constant promotion of the campaign has left me with very little focus for gaming. But... Continue reading

Posted Jul 8, 2012 at Strange Design

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Week of Gaming #91 - 07/01/12

This week I finally played Shiren the Wanderer, at the insistence of my 11-year-old daughter. Look for my thoughts belowe. Games of note this week: 1 - Dungeons of Dredmor 2 - Endless Space 3 - Hero Academy 4 -... Continue reading

Posted Jul 1, 2012 at Strange Design

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How to use a Western Toilet

For a long time now, I've wanted to take a trip to India. I've spent lots of time preparing myself and my kids for this theoretical trip, and one element of that has been learning how to use a squat... Continue reading

Posted Jun 28, 2012 at Strange Design

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Idle Hands will Choke your Team

It is not always obvious how to work together as a team. People experienced with solo projects often falter, or slide into inaction rather than step on their co-worker's toes. Larger teams give some members an opportunity to hide -... Continue reading

Posted Jun 26, 2012 at Strange Design

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12 years Piracy-free

Like a million other people, I read the fascinating post by David Lowery which essentially argues that downloading music without compensating the artists is ethically wrong. It's a very well-written and powerfully-presented argument. I was then directed to Jonathan Coulton's... Continue reading

Posted Jun 23, 2012 at Strange Design

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Coders are Landscapers

On most projects, especially large projects, coders are you most valuable resource. Coders command the highest salaries, have the most flexible abilities, and are always in short supply. This scarcity means that most projects try very hard to get as... Continue reading

Posted Jun 19, 2012 at Strange Design

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Week of Gaming #89 - 06/17/12

Apparently I've been away from the app store long enough for several interesting new puzzle games to show up. Since I'm still just on the cusp of my major update to Sun Stones, I thought it would be professional for... Continue reading

Posted Jun 17, 2012 at Strange Design

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Considering: Monster Ate My Condo! - A study in design tension

The Free App of the Week this week is Monsters Ate My Condo! - I picked it up, and was immediately impressed with the clever use of design in the game. I thought this would be a good opportunity to... Continue reading

Posted Jun 12, 2012 at Strange Design

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Week of Gaming #88 - 06/10/12

Ok, even though I've played a fair amount of Diablo 3 this week, and have had a few really good Hero Academy games - there is only one game I want to talk about today: Endless Space Endless Space has... Continue reading

Posted Jun 10, 2012 at Strange Design

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Learning and the Heart of Stone

When doing contract design work, I am frequently required to learn a substantial amount about a new subject. Sometimes the material is personally interesting, but often it is not. As a point of professional pride I try to put equal... Continue reading

Posted Jun 5, 2012 at Strange Design

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