gamedesign Archives | Filament Games

Writing a Game Design Document Your Team Can Actually Use

*claps hands together loudly* “Alrighty, who’s ready to read my 30-page GDD that I spent the last two days writing?!” Yeah, me neither. I’ve seen a number of game design documents get out of hand and become a chore to maintain and read. They end up looking more like a wall of text than a…

October 20, 2014 // Abby Friesen

Filament Games | Educational Game Developer

Filament Games Team Inspires Girl Scouts to Code

Check out our working avatar creator here! We have a soft spot in our hearts for kids who are interested in learning about programming and game development, and we make it a part of our mission to look for opportunities to give back to our community. In December, Filament Games was invited to participate in…

January 16, 2015 // Elle Jacobson

The Balancing Act: Including Others in Your Designs

Designers, we are not the only ones with ideas and solutions. There is a careful balance we must maintain between designing features by ourselves and gathering the developer’s ideas and feedback. A game is a bajillion times better when it’s the combination of everyone’s creativity. It’s the kind of thing that’s obvious in theory but…

September 11, 2015 // Abby Friesen

How to Make a Video Game for Learning: Costs and Considerations

Game creation is more complicated than portrayed in Game Dev Story. I’m going to explain just how complicated it can be, but I have a few caveats: I can’t walk through every possible game feature (there are many and we make new ones all the time). I can’t provide a standard menu of features either,…

November 9, 2015 // Stephen Calender

Girl Scouts Activate Their Game Design Skills

For the second year in a row, we were invited to participate in the Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Badgerland Activate! event. We love seeing young girls (and, sometimes, their brothers) get excited about STEM concepts. In an effort to get the Girl Scouts as excited about game design as we are, Game Designer, Abby Friesen, created a…

December 9, 2015 // Kat Shanahan

How to Make a Learning Game

It Begins With An Idea Video games typically begin with design, either starting with a great idea or pursuing a creative solution to a tough problem. It is entirely possible to imagine games for which there is no demand, or to identify a space where there is a need but no good game can be…

January 4, 2016 // Stephen Calender

FGP 12: Mobile Games

Welcome to Episode 12! This week we arrive at the end of our quest for a good mobile game. We also discuss why Filament hasn’t made more mobile games, why Brandon is a stock photographer, and what lead us to design a game about chickens on planes. Hot Topics in This Week’s Episode Crashlands Coffee with…

March 1, 2016 // Kat Shanahan

Cost to Make a Video Game with Filament Games

VP Jennifer Javornik offers an in-depth response to one of our most frequently asked questions – what does it cost to make an educational video game?

June 9, 2021 // Jennifer Javornik

FGP 16: Win The White House

Welcome to Episode 16! In FGP 16 we ask the important question, “What do you think is the largest number of bananas you can eat in a day?” We also chat with special guest Carrie Ray-Hill from iCivics about Win The White House and the importance of teaching in a non-partisan, safe environment around the…

March 29, 2016 // Kat Shanahan

Get to Know a Game Engineer: An Interview with Stephen Calender

On March 9, 2016, I met with the Game Maker’s Club at Norwich Tech via Google Hangouts. I had a great time chatting with the students! Here’s a selection of the many thoughtful, insightful questions they asked: Where do you get your game ideas? Good game ideas can come from anywhere. I have literally dreamed…

March 30, 2016 // Stephen Calender

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