Today I discovered Machinations thanks to this excellent Gamasutra article. On Machinations Wiki we can read that: "Machinations is a theoretical framework and an interactive, dynamic, graphical representation that describes games as dynamic systems and focuses on closed feedback loops within them. The intention is to find a way to express and investigate (recurrent) game structures methodologically. Machinations offers a new lens on the intuitive and delicate practice of game design and balancing. (...)". The tool is part of a PhD thesis by Joris Dormans, and it's lovely.

As my first experiment I tried to re-create a simple RPG game, at the macro level. In this abstract game diagram you can : kill enemies, level up, upgrade your stuff, die and revive, and trade gold for health.

Please note that Machinations was not created to play games, but to discuss game design and prototype game mechanics. So you might find yourself a bit lost when trying to play this :)

Anyway, to play this abstract RPG game diagram, just clic on the Run (R) button on the bottom left corner :)

Last week-end was Ludum Dare 10 year anniversary. The goal was to create a game in 2 days following the theme : "Tiny World".

I created a very simple physic game 'The Last Rainbow' where you bounce a ball on a little planet. It's basically a one button game, where the goal of the game is to score as high as possible :)

You can play The Last Rainbow here : "The Last Rainbow" (PLAY).

The game is available on the Ludum Dare web site as well, you will be able to see its vote rating soon : The Last Rainbow competition entry

This past week-end I participated in my first Global Game Jam, and it was a blast. It was in the center of Paris, in the Isart Digital school, and the idea was to make a game in one week-end. We were 4 guys and we worked about 35 hours to make "The Loop" (PLAY).

The goal of the game is to surround enemies, and destroy 'boss structures' by flying into blue links. It's inspired from Flow, Geometry Wars, and other top down shooter. Except in our game, we don't shoot :)

In April 2011 I left Ubisoft Entertainment, and in May 2011 I created my own independant video game studio. It's called Area Effect, and you can find everything about it on our web site : area-effect.com. I've been working as an independant for 9 months, and it's going pretty well. I published one game called Startales (iPhone, iPad), finished a puzzle game (not yet published), and I'm currently working on an undisclosed Serious Game that will be finished in May 2012. Information about our games and services can be found on the web site.

Probably the most innovative game of 2011, Minecraft is an exploration and a creative experience. In Minecraft you can dig into anything, gather materials, mix them together, and build stuff. It's playable in single player, or multi player over thousands of servers that fans already set-up over the last few weeks.

The game is not yet really finished, it's lacking a bit of accessibility and most importantly challenges and goals for the multiplayer mode. But the game is still in alpha stage, it's cheap to buy, and it is an experience that is truely unique. Try it!

A fanmade trailer :

My latest little action-puzzle game Illumination is finally working on iPad. Had to buy a Macbook for it, but hey, it's well worth it. Targeting a Q4 2010 release for the final game!