Game Thinking

Hi. This blog is my place to discuss what's happening in games, ludology, the games industry, and suchlike. Responses to current events in the field, reviews of games I'm playing, tips on how to be a good designer, that sort of thing. I am a Creative Manager at THQ, but this blog is not meant to represent THQ or the opinions of anyone else at THQ. You may enjoy it if you are an industry folk, a fan, or someone without lots of experience with games who might be interested to know more.

Who am I? A Creative Manager represents the publisher in terms of fun and gameplay. It's my responsibility to make sure games that outside developers create are fun. I compare it to being an editor: the outside developer does all the work, but I make sure they do it well, correct their spelling mistakes, and send them checks. Except I work with a Product Manager who does all the non-gameplay, non-quality bits. I make sure it's fun, they make sure it happens. Before this, I worked as a designer at High Voltage Software for many years, working on many games including Hunter: the Reckoning, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, Stitch: Experiment 626, Codename: Kids Next Door, Ground Control: Dark Conspiracy, and Paperboy 64. And before that I did pen and paper games at Mayfair for a while.