I started the Indie Game Reading Club on Google+ in 2015. It’s opinions, reviews, thoughts, play experiences. So many experiences. I’ve been playing tabletop roleplaying games since 1980, written quite a lot of material for actual money, and I think I’ve got something valuable to say. My love is now predominantly small-press “indie” or “story” games, but I’ve got lots of decades in so my old experience still informs a lot of my point of view.
Here’s a long thread I wrote about serious game critique you may find interesting. It initially appeared on Twitter but seriously, fuck Twitter.
Discourse around game design critique has popped up again. As one of the very few folks working in this space, let me share some thoughts.
First, understand there’s a big difference between review and critique. Reviews are for consumers, critique is for creators. And, of course, for fans who take make-believe way too seriously. Fans like me.
I moved the Indie Game Reading Club to a blog several years ago but I’d been working for a decade. And I mean work: playing, reading, writing, arguing, developing a voice and a point of view. Experience matters in critique, less so in reviews.
When I moved to a Patreon-supported model (http://patreon.com/igrc) I did not expect enough support to make a difference. I’m on the cusp, but I want to bring in more paid writers with their own perspectives. But more critique? That’s harder.
To do game critique well, I keep these things in mind:
- I meet the game where it’s at. I don’t boost games I love and slag games I hate. That’s not critique, it’s points-scoring. It’s not useful to creators and it’s not interesting to serious fans. I read a game’s text generously with its intended experience and audience in mind.
- I only critique from actual play experience. This is time and resource intensive. Not all players are well suited to helping explore and evaluate the experience! In fact most are not, and make their pleasure or displeasure the most important thing. I can’t blame them.
- I am as honest as I can be about my play experience. Honesty does not mean cruelty, and it doesn’t mean fawning praise. Honesty requires introspection and knowledge of my own limitations and tastes.
- I make no effort to be neutral, because neutrality is bullshit and I’m not a journalist. Nobody’s neutral. Rather, I make my biases understood within my work. Hopefully. I don’t always succeed.
So who am I, anyway? Why does this fuckin’ guy get to say what’s good and bad? Well, that’s not what critique is. But more importantly? I’m nobody. No degree, no white papers, no badge from the Serious Gamers Authority. All I have is my work, which I hope speaks for itself. And some writer and designer credits from the 20th century, a whole different country.
Back to the review/critique divide. One problem I run into, more frequently now, is that creators need marketing outlets. So they send me half-finished games, typically as creators are ramping up their Kickstarter campaigns.
Creators hope I can suss out their game and talk about it a bit in time for the Kickstarter. But that’s not how critique works. As much as I want to lend everyone my audience, I literally cannot talk about a half-finished game in a GDoc.
I’m not naïve, though. I know critique serves a marketing purpose. But it has to serve that purpose in your game’s long tail. I review and critique complete games in their final form, because I feel the form is vital to the overall critique.
Another critique fact: Not all designers really want it. Sometimes they need moral support, and I’m happy to hand that out. It’s free, I love talking to designers, and I’m effusive in my support. But if you want to improve your craft, you need honest, considered critique.
To critique a game, I need to play it at least once and ideally more than that. That involves reading (which may be anywhere from an hour to many hours), running (2-4 hours, possibly many dozens), reviewing my notes, and the actual writing and editing process.
At a bare minimum, that’s 4 or so hours to critique a single title. That doesn’t take into account the 4 decades of experience backing me up.
As with every other skilled specialist, you’re not paying for my 4 hours, you’re paying for my 4 decades.
Bottom line: You want to see more meaningful critique? Take it seriously and pay for it.
Consider supporting the Indie Game Reading Club (http://patreon.com/igrc).
Want to know where to start, or want to start browsing? Check out my index of terms and tags here!
Hope you enjoy my words.
