3 Bit Design

Tristan and Oliver get caught in a web of intrigue as they string together Insomniac Games’ PS5 launch title Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales into these three bits:

Find us on Twitter:

3-Bit Design: @3bitdesign

Oliver - @oliverwauters

Tristan - @theatrewalker

Some references:

Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales: The Creative Journey - Brian Horton, GDC talk

Inside the inspiration that shaped Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales - Brian Crecente (Epic games store)

Marvel Spiderman’s Level Design - Ketul Majmudar, Medium article

Marvel's Spider-Man Design Analysis - Stanislav Costiuc, Game Developer article

Creating The World Of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales - video interview with Brian Horton, Game Informer

How Insomniac Refined Combat In Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales - video interview with Cameron Christian, Game Informer
TRANSLATING SPIDER-MAN FANTASY INTO COMBAT MECHANICS - Jason de Heras, blog

Tristan and Oliver passionately channel Lucio’s ultimate as they break down Blizzard’s hero shooter phenomenon Overwatch 2 into these three bits:

Find us on Twitter:

3-Bit Design: @3bitdesign

Oliver - @oliverwauters

Tristan - @theatrewalker

Some references:

‘Overwatch 2’ review: a colourful shooter that just works - Jake Tucker, NME article

BEHIND THE SCENES OF OVERWATCH 2’S DEVELOPMENT - Blizzard Entertainment

OVERWATCH REVIEW: A MASTERPIECE IN UX DESIGN - Kyle Hamel, Akendi article

Overwatch and Asymmetric Level Design - What Makes the Maps Fun? - Extra Credits, video essay

Blizzard's Aaron Keller Breaks Down Overwatch Map Design - Ars Technica, video interview

Overwatch and Asymmetric Character Design - The Challenge of Varied Playstyles - Extra Credits, video essay

Asymmetrical Game Design: How to find the balance - Josh Bycer, article

Tristan and Oliver tap and swipe through their emotions, frantically trying to hold the podcast together as they break down Mountains’s mobile hit Florence into these three bits:

1. Designing For The Medium - Using natural intuition over complex tutorialisation

2. Small Changes, Big Differences - Conveying story through the power of returning mechanics & repetition

3. Emotions Through Colour - Establishing the mood of a scene through clever use of colour.

3-Bit Design: @3bitdesign

Oliver - @oliverwauters

Tristan - @theatrewalker

Some References:

Narrative Tactics for Mobile and Social Games: Pocket-Sized Storytelling - Toiya Kristen Finley (book)

Florence: How game design can tell love stories - Marie Dealessandri (MCV Develop, article)

The breathtaking Florence captures falling in love better than almost any game - Allegra Frank (Polygon review)

The Lead Designer of Monument Valley Deconstructs His Latest Game, Florence (Ollie Campbell, Milanote)

The Making of Florence | Episode 1 - Annapurna Interactive (Dev Diary, video)

Tristan and Oliver voyage beyond life and death as they pick up the blade and slice Leonard Menchiari & Flying Wild Hog’s Trek To Yomi into these three bits:

1. Situational Awareness - distinguishing action from exploration and the side-scrolling combat design

2. Player As Spectator - framing the player as a bystander and other influences from the silver screen

3. The Ultimate Dilemma - projecting the hero’s burden of societal expectations onto the player through clever narrative design

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Some References:
Trek to Yomi review — Beautiful art direction and tense combat combine to create an enthralling ode to Japanese cinema - Richard Allen, Gaming Trend (article)

Walk, Don’t Run Through Trek to Yomi - Damien Lawardorn, Escapist (article)

How Akira Kurosawa inspired the vision of developers Leonard Menchiari and Flying Wild Hog.- Leonard Menchiari (Playstation blog)

Trek to Yomi - Original pitch concept (2019) - Leonard Menchiari (video footage)

Tristan and Oliver are joined by guest game designer Amy Goodenough to guide them through the vast expanses of Tyria, as we break down ArenaNet’s MMORPG Guild Wars 2 into these three bits:

1. Encouraging community - how the game nurtures a positive collaborative community and surprising design choices that have contributed to it

2. Dynamic events - questing in a living breathing world; linear vs emergent gameplay

3. Compartmentalising play styles - How GW2 seeks to present its broad PvP and PvE experiences in a way that allows for depth without overwhelming players

Find us on twitter at:

3-Bit Design: @3bitdesign

Oliver - @oliverwauters

Tristan - @theatrewalker

Some references:

Guild Wars 2 Game Designer Discusses Challenges of Modernizing Living World Season 1 - Eric Law (article, GameRant)

Horizontal VS Vertical Design [MMOPINION] - Josh Strife Hayes (video essay)

The Four Core Concepts That Guild Wars 2 is Built Upon - Mike Fahey (article, Kotaku)

Why Guild Wars 2 Has the Best Fishing Mini-Game of All Time - The anatomy of Guild Wars 2 , The Escapist (video essay)

Tristan and Oliver tune into the frequency of Night School Studio’s cult classic, Oxenfree, as they interrupt your broadcast with these three bits:

1. Communication as the main mechanic - Tackling all the items of a traditional adventure game with a single mechanic

2. Walking and Talking - Narrative pacing and the dynamic dialogue system

3. 3D interactivity in a 2D environment - How Night School Studio blended art style with level design tricks to depth in the 2D spaces

Find us on Twitter:

Some References:

“I thought we were going to go out of business” - Sean Krankel on the development of Oxenfree - Chris Wallace, MCV develop (article)

Building Game Mechanics to Elevate Narrative in Oxenfree - Sean Krankel (GDC talk)

5 Game Design Innovations from 2016: Oxenfree - Natural Conversations - Mark Brown, GMTK (video essay)

Road to the IGF: Night School Studio's Oxenfree - Bryant Francis, Game Developer (article)

The Very Best and Worst Thing in Oxenfree: Game Design Review - Platformer Game Design (video essay)

Dramatic Storytelling & Narrative Design: A Writer’s Guide to Video Games and Transmedia - Ross Berger (book)

Cutting Through the Static: The Immersive Greatness of Oxenfree’s Radio - Ishaan Sahdev, Black Shell Media (article)

OXENFREE | Part 3: Mechanics & Gameplay - Robert Kirkman’s Skybound (video essay)

Tristan and Oliver team up to wreak havoc in Pandora as they blast open Gearbox Software’s iconic FPS Borderlands 2 into these three bits:

1. Co-op RPG Shooter - How Gearbox tackles this mashup of genres throughout the different aspects of the game.

2. Procedurally Generated Loot - Weighing up the benefits of generating millions of unique guns.

3. A Feast For The Eyes - Discussing the HUD elements and visual feedback design approach of the game.

Find us on twitter at:

3-Bit Design: @3bitdesign

Oliver - @oliverwauters

Tristan - @theatrewalker

Some references:

Crazy Town: Gearbox on making Borderlands 2 - Russ Pitts, Polygon (article)

Inside the Box: Designing humor in Borderlands 2 - Anthony Burch, Gearbox Software (article)

Looking for Love on Pandora: PCG and Borderlands 2 | Design Dive - Tommy Thompson, AI and Games (video essay)

Borderlands 2's amazing weapons and their bizarre inspirations, from Apple to Austrian cars - Brian Crecente, Polygon (article)

Tristan and Oliver seek to play their cards right or face permadeath as they break down MegaCrit’s seminal roguelike deckbuilder Slay the Spire into these three bits:

1. Risk VS Reward - How the game masterfully goes about presenting truly meaningful choices to players.

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Some references:

Tristan and Oliver canoe down to the magical realms of Midgard as they chop up Santa Monica’s epic God of War (2018) into these three bits:

1. The Hub World - Breaking down the central Lake of Nine hub area and the key role it plays in the structure of the game.

2. One Shot Take - The framing, fluid movements, and seamless transitions that make up the game’s third person camera.

3. Boy! - A deep dive into the player character’s buddy AI/NPC companion, Atreus, and how his presence affects the player experience.

Find us on twitter at:

3-Bit Design: @3bitdesign

Tristan and Oliver grab onto their walkies as they go bit-spotting in the Wyoming forests of Campo Santo’s gorgeous hit Firewatch - specifically these three bits:

1. Open World Metroidvania & environmental breadcrumbs - lifting the lid on the reactive open world and its systems.

2. First Person Characterisation - Defying the generic blank slate player character trope most first person games resort to and creating an immersive emotional attachment to a character players can’t see.

3. The Passing of Time - One of the game’s biggest themes; how it was handled and convincingly represented to the player largely through environmental storytelling.

3-Bit Design: @3bitdesign

Oliver - @oliverwauters

Tristan - @theatrewalker

Some references:

Realism in Games: What Makes Firewatch Feel Personal - Randen Banuelos, Game Developer (article)

Firewatch critical analysis - Andrew Haining, Game Developer (article)

Critical Play: Firewatch - Kaleb Morris, Game Design Fundamentals (article)