Filament Games Blog

How to Get Hired at a Game Studio: UX Designer Edition

The Role of a Visual Interaction Designer at Filament A number of months ago I received an email inquiry seeking advice on how to become a Visual Interaction Designer (otherwise referred to as a User Experience Designer, or UX for short) at Filament Games. This request came from Brandon Korth, who has since become a…

April 11, 2018 // Alex Yaeger

Filament Games | Educational Game Developer

Abstraction in Learning Games

I was asked to write about abstraction in games for the Filament blog, which is a topic near and dear to my heart. Let me start by offering some hippy dippy nonsense that you will probably roll your eyes at, because you’ve already seen The Matrix. I think it’s useful though just to give you…

April 9, 2018 // Dan Norton

Print Publishing in the Digital Age: An Interview with Jennifer Barney

Today we’re interviewing Jennifer Barney, Vice President of Acquisitions & Project Management at Publications International, Filament’s partner on the recently released VR Explorations. Jennifer is a seasoned publishing industry expert, and sat down with us to share her take on the past, present, and future of print publishing in the digital age. Tell us about…

April 4, 2018 // Brandon Pittser

Event Recap: Madison’s 1st Annual Spring Break Gaming & Coding Day

Our team was recently invited to participate in Madison’s 1st annual Spring Break Gaming and Coding Day, hosted by My Brother’s Keeper Madison. A free event open to middle and high school youth, students were invited to partake in a variety of coding and gaming-centric workshops led by local organizations Gear Learning, MadMarker Studios, Acme…

April 2, 2018 // James LaPierre

Blockchain, Self-Care, and Low Poly Animals: Highlights from GDC 2018

If you were in San Francisco, California last week, you may have noticed an extra 30,000+ people wandering around the downtown area (myself included). These folks were most likely there to attend the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC), a revered professional game industry event for developers, publishers, and academics alike. A little more context for…

March 28, 2018 // Sarah Spiers

Resource Roundup: How to Get Hired at a Game Studio

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) reports that the US video game industry generated $36 billion in revenue in 2017, a growth of 18% from the prior year. With 2,000+ video game developers and publishers directly employing over 65,000 individuals across all 50 U.S. states (seriously, find out who’s near you using this handy interactive map),…

March 26, 2018 // James LaPierre

Speed Sketch! Plants

When developing custom learning games for clients, artists like myself are sometimes given the direction to make art that “looks like all the other Filament games.” While some of our past games share similar styles and visual characteristics, the truth is there is no one “Filament style” that is common across all our previous games…

March 21, 2018 // Roma Jenson

Research Roundup: Game-Based Language Learning

Language immersion programs, Rosetta Stone, face-to-face classroom instruction, and more – all tried and true methods of acquiring the skills necessary to speak a new language. But what happens when game-based learning enters the fray? A number of recent studies have attempted to determine the efficacy of digital game-based language learning programs, providing evidence that…

March 19, 2018 // James LaPierre

Community Outreach & Collaboration: Spring Edition

Here at Filament Games, we’re extremely proud of our Wisconsin roots – meaning we’re constantly looking for new ways to volunteer, engage with, and give back to our local community. But here’s the thing about engaging with your local community: it often requires that you get out of the office! So as the weather warms up…

March 14, 2018 // James LaPierre

How AI Supports Teachers

Citing Pearson’s 2016 report Intelligence Unleashed: An Argument for AI in Education, our blog recently highlighted a few ways in which artificial intelligence tools can greatly enhance collaborative learning. Today, we’re here to discuss another application of artificial intelligence in education: how AI supports teachers. According to a 2015 report from the Center for American…

March 12, 2018 // James LaPierre

Game-based Learning for Professionals

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

Game-Based Learning in Healthcare 2025: Resource Round-up