What gamer doesn’t love customizing their in-game character? VP Jennifer Javornik takes a closer look at the various elements that comprise a compelling avatar system! …
#gamedesign
Prototyping, Clients, and ‘The Fidelity Rainbow’

CCO Dan Norton discusses how his ‘Fidelity Rainbow’ metaphor helps facilitate communication and creative collaboration when prototyping games with clients! …
Game Spotlight: Cast Your Vote (iCivics)

Get a behind-the-screens look at the making of iCivics’ newly-remastered civics learning game Cast Your Vote in our interview with Game Designer Colin Skinner! …
Making Great Learning Games Pt. 2 – Designing Game Mechanics

Hello again! Welcome to part 2 of Making Great Learning Games! Last article we covered how to identify your actual learning objectives and how to formulate a plan for transferring them from the play experience to the real world. Now the next step is migrating those objectives into gameplay mechanics! I don’t want to speak …
Making Great Learning Games Pt. 1 – Defining Learning Objectives

Drawing on over a decade of experience developing educational games, CCO Dan Norton offers a look at the core elements of designing great learning games… …
GBL Luminary Guest Post: Designing Play Through Interactives, Toys and Games

Filament Games stays connected to the scholarly side of game-based learning (GBL) through our GBL Luminaries Program. Academics in the Luminaries program work with our staff to maintain a healthy dialogue between game-based learning theory and practice through all-staff lectures and guest blog posts. Today’s GBL Luminary guest post is from Lindsay Grace, Knight Chair …
GBL Luminary Guest Post: Walking with Thoreau – Uncommon Wisdom for Game Designers

Filament Games stays connected to the scholarly side of game-based learning (GBL) through our GBL Luminaries Program. Academics in the Luminaries program work with our staff to maintain a healthy dialogue between game-based learning theory and practice through all-staff lectures and guest blog posts. Today’s GBL Luminary guest post is from Tracy Fullerton, experimental game …
A Tale of Two Data Sets – Data in Game Development

It might surprise you to learn that working on the data of your game is usually about half the development effort – if not more. Whether your data is bits of dialogue, images, items, or locations of objects, all of that information has to be meticulously designed and organized. While the game might have some …
Game Spotlight: Rainbow Agents (UW-Madison)

To celebrate the launch of Rainbow Agents at the New York Hall of Science and the Lawrence Hall of Science, we sat down with Game Designer Quinn Crossley for an in-depth look at the making of Filament’s first-ever museum game. Check out their thoughts below! ⤵ Quinn – kick us off by telling us a …
Inclusive Game Design: Key Starting Principles

As educational game developers, it’s our responsibility to ensure that the experiences we create are accessible and relatable to all students. Here at Filament, we believe that all learners should have access to meaningful educational opportunities, regardless of their identity, ability, or demographics. In order to support this goal, we consider a wide range of …