Game Design Category

The Blizzard Principle

In: Game Design

It is no news that Blizzard produces some of the best-selling games ever made. World of Warcraft probably broke every games-related record there is, and Starcraft is still played, ten years after its release.
I believe this is due to what I like to call The Blizzard Principle. The way Blizzard approaches game making allows them [...]

Empire is released!

In: Game Design

The game I have been working on for almost three years, Empire: Total War, is finally released. We’ve already had some amazing previews and reviews, and the response on the forums is really good as well.

About this blog

Jan van der Crabben is a game designer whose work includes Empire: Total War as well as mods for Civilization III & IV. He is also very interested in academic game studies and has published papers on the subject.