@AppleJordan: The series was part of my diploma thesis project I did at the University of Applied Science in Potsdam, Germany. You can find more information "here":http://www.pixelate.de/games/understanding-games.
Roniks, Caiyo: Again, it fails to load because of the lastest kongregate updates. Other games like Fold or Age of Japan seem to be affected as well. The people at Kongregate are working on it right now. Sorry for the inconvience.
I notified the kongregate guys about the loading problem. It seems to be connected with the latest kongregate update. I will try to fix it as soon as possible.
I notified the kongregate guys about this problem. It seems to be connected with the latest kongregate update. I will try to fix it as soon as possible.
@Seanus: Thanks for your comment... What exactly do you mean with flash game compendium? Just putting all episodes into one swf? Or adding any extra stuff?
Great concept. I was thinking if the player should really be forced to manually remove a bubble with the space key, or if it could just be removed automatically when you try to create a new one. Some background music would be nice, too.
Looks like a lot of fun. Personally I don't like mouse-controlled action games so much, so it would be great for me to have a Geometry Wars style control scheme (e.g. WASD for moving, arrow keys for shooting).
@axcho: According to Gee a good video game gives the players information in situations when they actually need them. Compare that to a board game, where you have to read all instructions prior to playing the game. (Or in your NEON game, you have one help screen with a lot of text, but the text is disconnected from the actual game experience.)
The information the player needs to learn a game don't necessarily have to be communicated through text, but can also be (and mostly is) done with visual and audio feedback as explained in Episode 2. Make sure you provide enough feedback to the player so he or she understands the meaning and outcome of their actions. It is a good idea to start with a prototype, get user feedback (How did the user play the game? What didn't he or she understand?) and iterate on that prototype.
@axcho: I highly recommend the book "What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy" by James Paul Gee which this episode is mainly based on.
 "Understanding Games: Episode 4"){kind=tracking}
 "Understanding Games: Episode 3"){kind=icon}
 "Understanding Games: Episode 2"){kind=tracking}
 "Understanding Games: Episode 1"){kind=tracking}
 "Manifold"){kind=icon}
 "Ratmaze 2"){kind=icon}
 "Luminara"){kind=icon}
 "Marvin Spectrum"){kind=icon}
 "Four Second Frenzy"){kind=icon}