snoopy – The Mechanics of Magic

Critical Play: Mysteries & Escape Rooms – snoopy

August 6, 2026

This week, I was lucky enough to be able to attend an escape room – a unique and immersive puzzle where the player is…

Sketchnote: Onboarding – snoopy

August 4, 2026

I did this sketch note on note only onboarding in Plants vs Zombies, but also included a little bit of how we can spatially/visually onboard…

Critical Play: Puzzles – snoopy

July 30, 2026

Note, this article does contain some spoilers that aspiring Portal players should avoid. While most folks think of Portal 2 when prompted to envision…

Sketchnote: Puzzles in Games, Puzzles as Games – snoopy

July 28, 2026

Here is my sketch note on puzzles in games and as games! I thought it was funny how, in the article published in 1997,…

Critical Play: Worldbuilding – snoopy

July 24, 2026

For this week’s worldbuilding Critical Play, I played the much-beloved Deltarune: Chapter 3. Toby Fox has always been a fantastic worldbuilder in my eyes,…

Sketchnote: Designer’s Notebook: The Role of Architecture in Videogames – snoopy

July 22, 2026

Above is my sketchnote for architecture in video games. I tried to keep it simple, with more reminding little images!

Sketchnote: Loops & Arcs – snoopy

July 21, 2026

One game I really like is Jak 2, for the PS2. Because it features lots of different dynamics (platforming, shooting enemies, racing), there are…

Checkpoint 1: Concept Doc – Team Heteropsomys

July 20, 2026

Team members: Aksel Kolasinski, Yifan Xu, Xatrik Bera, snoopy Synopsis: We would like to pursue a story where the protagonist finds themself in a…

P2, Checkpoint 1 – Individual Team Member Deliverable – snoopy

July 20, 2026

For our team’s upcoming game, three emotions I wanted to evoke are: Tension – like the heightened state of awareness you feel when you…

Critical Play: Walking Simulators – snoopy

July 16, 2026

“Walking simulators” are games that are usually mechanically simple (i.e., the player may only walk and solve simple puzzles), but often are so in…

Mindmap: Narrative Architecture – snoopy

July 14, 2026

Here is my mind map on narrative architectures in games. I had fun drawing the game images at the bottom!

Critical Play: Competitive Analysis – snoopy

July 12, 2026

In the realm of social deduction games, I feel most games do not translate well to being online. While there are certainly a notable…

Sketchnote: Game Design Patterns for Building Friendships – snoopy

July 7, 2026

Here is my next sketchnote. My last sketchsnote used colors to differentiate, so I wanted to try and do this one monochrome, as…

Critical Play: Bluffing, Judging and Getting Vulnerable – snoopy

July 1, 2026

Somehow, despite the great popularity of the game amongst people my age, I have only just gotten around to playing Coup for the first…

Sketchnote: What Games Are and Aren’t – snoopy

June 30, 2026

Here is my first official sketchnote. It was fun to try all the different colors.

Short Exercise: Learning to Play Closely – snoopy

June 29, 2026

Undertale was a very emotional game for me – and perhaps the most notable moment in this journey was when the player finally approaches…

Mindmap: Formal Elements – snoopy

June 25, 2026

Hi everyone! Here is my first mind map/sort-of-sketchnote.

Intro Post – snoopy

June 24, 2026

Hi everyone, I am excited to be a part of the class and learn! I go by He/Him. A game that may just be…

Short Exercise – MDA & 8 Kinds of Fun – snoopy

June 24, 2026

[Fallout: New Vegas title screen] One game that I particularly enjoy is Fallout: New Vegas. The game’s strong role-playing and narrative aspects have…