Filament Games Blog

Filament Games Podcast Finale – Episodes 9 & 10

That’s a wrap! Season 3 of the Filament Games podcast is officially concluded with this exciting double-header. Check out our last two episodes of Season 3 below and stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter to find out what’s next from the Filament Games Podcast team! FGP3-9: Retro Review: The Logical Journey of the Zoombinis…

July 10, 2017 // Brandon Pittser

Filament Games | Educational Game Developer

Getting Patriotic with iCivics

Happy (belated) Fourth of July! Now that the lawn chairs are back in the garage and refrigerators are bursting with leftovers, I’m looking for ways to prolong my lingering sense of patriotism and national pride. Fortunately, iCivics has me covered. Recently updated for 2017, these games from iCivics are a great way to reflect on…

July 5, 2017 // Brandon Pittser

Art Hacks: Line Art from Pencil to Screen

As a 14-year-old sprouting digital artist in the mid-00s, the best way I learned how to create digital art was from my peers. Not the peers I saw daily in Ms. Taylor’s 9th grade English class, mind you; I’m talking about the ever-expanding online communities of teenagers just finding out that there’s more to life…

June 28, 2017 // Natasha Soglin

Bloom’s Taxonomy and 21st Century Skills

We draw on quite a few paradigms of thought when we develop games, and fortunately for us there is no shortage of taxonomies and frameworks to be found in the realm of education. Recently, during a casual discussion of educational frameworks (yes, we’re nerds) we decided it might be worth highlighting a few with regards to…

June 21, 2017 // Brandon Pittser

FGP3-8: Audio Design in Games and VR

In today’s podcast, Brandon and Dan are joined by Filament’s Ethan Cayko for a discussion of practical audio techniques for game development. Tune in for a technical discussion of audio and the ways it can impact a player’s sense of space and immersion. We’ll also discuss the lusory attitude, what exactly is meant by “head-related…

June 20, 2017 // Brandon Pittser

Speed Sketch! Sennett Middle School

Earlier this year, Filament Games adopted Sennett Middle School, and it’s hard to believe it, but the first school year of our adoption is already over! We’ve already had a ton of amazing experiences with our friends at Sennett, and we can’t wait to see what the next school year brings. Until then, enjoy this…

June 19, 2017 // Brandon Pittser

Cheese, Beer, Packers, and Video Games: Wisconsin’s Thriving Game Dev Scene

UPDATE: The inaugural M+DEV conference has ended. Visit the official M+DEV website for the latest news about next year’s show! Did I just get you excited about a video game involving the cheese, beer, and the Packers? Sorry, I didn’t necessarily mean to do that. What I do want to get you excited about is that…

June 15, 2017 // Jennifer Javornik

Gamification Done Well

Hey friends! It’s been a long time since I’ve rapped at ya, but today I thought I’d revisit the wild, wild world of gamification. I mentioned in my previous blogoblag about gamification that it was a thing that isn’t hard to do badly. But I didn’t really get into much detail. Behold, gentle readers: this post…

June 14, 2017 // Dan Norton

FGP3-7: Making VR a Reality in the Classroom

In this episode, we’re joined by two incredible educator pioneers who are leading the way towards using VR for learning. Hear from Maria Galanis, Instructional Coach at Shepard Middle School and Andrea Trudeau, Library Information Specialist for Deerfield District 109, as they discuss their best practices for using VR in classrooms. Hot Topics in This…

June 13, 2017 // Brandon Pittser

Sid Meier’s Narrative Design: Part One

When discussing–or designing–storytelling in video games, we typically leverage the rhetoric of the storytelling mediums we’re already familiar with: notably, novels and films, a media reference point/anchor that Ian Bogost’s argued against in his provocatively titled and thoughtfully reasoned article, “Video Games are Better Without Stories.” It makes sense – in a way, treating video game…

June 12, 2017 // Matt Haselton

A Look Back at our 2023 Releases

What We Mean When We Say AI: Understanding Types of AI

Resource Roundup: 2023 at Filament Games