Gamasutra interview with Doug

Last month, I did a long interview with Leigh Alexander for Gamasutra. We talked about the collective, abusive game design, B.U.T.T.O.N., broken games, and more. Read it here.

Here’s an excerpt:

At its best, abusive game design can create a kind of playful meta-game — a battle of wits and willpower between designer and player. The kind of abusive game design that interests me most is “dialogic,” in that it facilitates a back-and-forth — maybe not a literal back-and-forth, but something that feels like it, as if you and the designer were “in each other’s heads,” so to speak. […] Thus, counter-intuitively, I think abusive game design can help humanize gameplay. It confronts the conventional and reminds us that play is something deeply personal.

I’m a big fan of Leigh’s work, so it was a real honor to do the interview with her. Thanks, Leigh!

You can read more about my research on abusive game design here. Admittedly, the paper lacks a little nuance. Miguel and I are currently working on clarifying and expanding our work – stay tuned for some exciting announcements on that front!

And finally, here’s the Kaizo Mario moment I describe in the interview: