What is The Arcade Artificer?

The Arcade Artificer is a publication that delivers in-depth game design analysis regularly. It’s written by me, JB Oger, an experienced game director with 7 years of experience in AAA and indie gaming.

I aim to understand how games entertain their players and share the learnings with everyone to trigger discussions & inspire other creators.

So, The Arcade Artificer is technically not a newsletter; you won’t find any news articles, no info about game releases or trailers here.

What’s the point of reading about game design?

Of course, there aren’t one-size-fits-all solutions in game design; the very nature of the discipline is to solve complex & unique problems.

Still, designers can improve at identifying the right path and using the right shortcuts. Sometimes, all it takes is learning about a new concept or observing how a game in a completely different genre solves its problems (that’s one reason why I love playing board games).

When I read a good game design article or a book, I let my mind wander. Compared to watching a video, reading a text gives me enough mental space to reflect on my own work, and I love it.

Why emails & Substack?

I used to write on Medium, but I got tired of fighting against social media algorithms to get even my followers to know when I publish. I don’t want to write clickbait headlines or about trendy topics to grab attention.

An email is simple, never gets lost, and you can easily bookmark it for a later read (or better yet: snooze it if you use Gmail) during your commute, for instance. If you have the app, you can also get phone notifications if you prefer.

See you soon!