The 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design by Mark Brown for Game Maker's Toolkit

I am 90 or so minutes through Mark's banger list. My biggest takeaway is you don't get this level of insight to game design without playing the games. Mark has spent the last decade reading articles, watching keynotes, talking with developers, designing his own game, and playing a lot of games. It's like authors reading books. I become a better writer when I read. And when I read, I want to write. It's this never ending cycle.

And the other key? Ship it. Mark has also spent the last decade creating over 200 videos on game design. He's had mini-series, franchise deep dives, and covered so much more in that span of time. The only way to get there is to chip away and make the thing. That's why a video like this works from Mark. He has the years of experience and work to make a two hour video on the games that taught him design.

Now for some interesting tidbits I've noticed so far...

• Mark makes a good effort to mention current, legal ways to play the games. There aren't links to every game, just ones that work in a browser it seems, but he does at least mention platform and availability.
• Every now and then, a game is one the list for a "bad" lesson, which I respect. Not every game is a shining example of design principles.
• Quite a few staple series got their first iteration on the list and not a superior or refined sequel i.e. Super Mario Bros. or Pokémon. I was super surprised with Mega Man. Respect the originals.
• I was going to say "look at how many came out within the last five years," but its not that many.¹ Most of the list is the "HD era" thought, which surprised me. Then I looked and realized that the 360 and PS3 were out in 2005/2006 and felt old.

Footnotes

1. How was Breath of the Wild seven years ago? ↩