By putting the player in a situation where’s there not enough space to move or to aim at the enemy, gameplay can quickly grow boring. But when combining gameplay with narrative and context, you can turn this into an even more immersive experience
Videogames – too much fun for their own good?
As a medium videogames have been kidnapped by their easily-achieved engagement. Simple gameplay is so much fun on its own that storytelling has never been needed in order to draw an audience. Compared to films, the element of storytelling is seldom elevated in videogames. Is it time for a walk down that lesser-known path, leading to better narratives in videogames?
Traversal and the Problem With Walking Simulators
To keep the player focused on the game’s world is crucial to every game creator. While the player is traversing a space this is even more important, but at the same time harder to achieve. So how do you keep your game interesting and avoid turning it into a walking simulator?
Amnesia Collection PS4 – A FAQ
After our announcement last week that the Amnesia: Collection was coming to the PS4, a bunch of questions appeared across the internet. Because of this, it feels like time for a little FAQ.
SOMA – One Year Later
It is now one year since we released SOMA which means it is time for an update on the current state of things.
Thoughts On Inside and Playable Stories
It is easy to view Inside (2016) as “just” a puzzle game with nice graphics. Many seem to overlook how incredibly good the game is at letting you play a story. Inside manages to craft an engaging narrative through gameplay in a way that few other games do. I think this is quite the accomplishment, and I’ve seen way too little written about it. The playable story is what I love about Inside, so it’s what this essay will be all about.
How We Hire At Frictional Games
Now that we’re in the process of hiring a new gameplay designer / programmer, it feels like a good time to talk about the hiring process here at Frictional Games. We’re a small company, so don’t hire tons of people, but we’ve still taken on quite a few over the years and have constantly evolved our strategies for doing so. Hopefully this article will be of help both to people who intend to hire others, and for those who want to apply for a job (with us or with anyone else).
Frictional Merchandise Is Finally Out!
For a long time we have been thinking about doing merchandise, but we never really felt that we had the time nor the proper partner. But recently we managed to free up some time and locate a nice partner in the form of Gametee. And after a few months of setup and work, the goodies are finally here!
SOMA – 6 Months Later
It is now a bit over 6 months since SOMA was released, so it feels like it’s time for an update on how everything has gone so far.
GDC 2016 Lecture Resources
On Tuesday next week I will be giving a lecture named “SOMA – Crafting Existential Dread” at GDC. This post will serve as a repository for more in-depth information on the information presented in that talk. I will also try and write a text version of the talk some time after GDC and if/when I do so, I will put a link to that here.
