The Game Design Forum

Critical Reviews

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Reviews here at The Game Design Forum go beyond whether or not you should buy a game. We certainly will let you know if a game is good or not—but we go one step further and discuss what makes a good game. Every review we do, for new and old games, is broken down into Essential Game Concepts, the fundamental ideas that make game unique and enjoyable.

A game concept might be anything from Randomly Generated Maps to Customized Weapon Loadout. We are a long way from documenting every game concept out there, but we sure are trying.

We do reviews of both new and classic games; anything that reveals more game design ideas is our subject.

League of Legends

From Warcraft to Yourcraft

Taking shape over many years in Warcraft 3's map mods section, League of Legends became its own game long before it was independently published. Our design-themed review looks at how it stood out.

Terarria

2D is the New D

Billed as a 2D Minecraft, Terraria proves itself to be different from the game with which it shares many design concepts. Turns out it's a great game, to boot.

GemCraft Labyrinth

We need towers. Lots of towers.

If you like tower defense, you're going to like GemCraft Labyrinth. It's 100 levels of complicated, strategic placement, traps, levels, and mazes. Design ideas abound. And if you're not familiar with the tower defense genre, this review is a good place to find out about it.

Older posts:

Plants vs. Zombies

East India Company

Guild Wars

HALO

Super Smash Brothers

Minecraft

The Indie Sensation

Starcraft 2

South Korea's National Sport Returns

World of Warcraft

Dissecting the Behemoth of MMOs

Disgaea

The Classic RPG Anomaly

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