Game Design Videos Hacker News Recommends
Game design videos on HackerTube: the talks, lectures and explainers Hacker News commenters keep sharing, covering mechanics, level design, game feel and juice, balance, player psychology, monetization ethics, narrative design, Jonathan Blow, GDC talks, design theory and postmortems.
61 videos · ranked by HN recommendations · showing 1–48
Most recommended game design videos
The ones HN returns to most often when a thread turns to this topic.
talk#50Juice it or lose it - a talk by Martin Jonasson & Petri Purho
grapefrukt
“Gotta be one of the best talks for anyone trying to make things interactive that also feel good.”
12 HN recommenders · 2013–2025
talk#72Jan Willem Nijman - Vlambeer - "The art of screenshake" at INDIGO Classes 2013
Dutch Game Garden
10 HN recommenders · 2014–2025
talk#97Preventing the Collapse of Civilization / Jonathan Blow (Thekla, Inc)
DevGAMM
“Anyone who finds this concept interesting to think about and hasn't seen this video may enjoy it”
14 HN recommenders · 2020–2025
talk#260Failing to Fail: The Spiderweb Software Way
GDC Festival of Gaming
“this talk is legendary and inspirational to aspiring game devs”
11 HN recommenders · 2018–2025
talk#329Exploring the Tech and Design of Noita
GDC Festival of Gaming
“Highly recommended if you want to dive deeper into the topic.”
7 HN recommenders · 2020–2026
talk#354'Diablo': A Classic Game Postmortem
GDC Festival of Gaming
“heartily recommended if you want to know about the human aspect behind game dev”
8 HN recommenders · 2018–2023
talk#391Jonathan Blow: Game design: the medium is the message
CreativeMornings HQ
“how the business model deeply corrupts the game through the metaphor of bad 70's TV shows vs HBO”
7 HN recommenders · 2013–2020
commentary#414Manufactured Discontent and Fortnite
Folding Ideas
“There's a great video[1] that goes into detail on the psychological manipulation used in Fortnite's monetization model.”
6 HN recommenders · 2019–2025
talk#478Jonathan Blow: Video Games and the Human Condition
rubbermuck
“Jonathan Blow has a great presentation on the mechanisms of video game addiction and the role of the game designer in building ethically responsible games [0]. I highly recommend it”
6 HN recommenders · 2011–2017
talk#572DOOM: Behind the Music
GDC Festival of Gaming
“One of my favorite conference talks ever”
4 HN recommenders · 2017–2023
talk#625Classic Game Postmortem: Sid Meier's Civilization
GDC Festival of Gaming
“Check out this great GDC talk by Sid and Bruce on the history of the development of the game.”
4 HN recommenders · 2017–2021
explainer#682Propaganda Games: Sesame Credit - The True Danger of Gamification - Extra Credits
Extra Credits
“It's 7.5 minutes long, and well worth the watch”
7 HN recommenders · 2015–2018
talk#812Classic Game Postmortem: Ultima Online
GDC Festival of Gaming
“This is a much watch if MMOs fascinate you. They're very transparent. Absolutely great video.”
5 HN recommenders · 2018–2024
explainer#856Nintendo - Putting Play First
Game Maker's Toolkit
“I highly recommend Mark Brown's video”
3 HN recommenders · 2017–2025
interview#919Dwarf Fortress Creator Explains its Complexity & Origins | Noclip Interview
/noclip
“This interview with Tarn Adams (one of the creators of dwarf fortress) is amazing”
6 HN recommenders · 2020–2022
commentary#967Ross's Game Dungeon: Deus Ex
Accursed Farms
“For a deeper discussion, I can only recommend Ross Scott's review of the game”
4 HN recommenders · 2017–2024
talk#1064Pitfall Classic Postmortem With David Crane Panel at GDC 2011 (Atari 2600)
GameSpot
“This is a great talk for those who love such things”
4 HN recommenders · 2013–2025
talk#1069Sid Meier's Psychology of Game Design
GDC Festival of Gaming
“More people need to listen to what Sid Meier has said on this.”
4 HN recommenders · 2016–2019
talk#1181Practical Creativity
GDC Festival of Gaming
“I recommend his 2014 GDC talk, "Practical Creativity" [1], even to developers who are not interested in game development.”
3 HN recommenders · 2018–2026
interview#1269How Gamers Killed Ultima Online's Virtual Ecology | War Stories | Ars Technica
Ars Technica
“Instead the players indiscriminately killed both the carnivores and the herbivores, because the players were human.”
3 HN recommenders · 2018–2026
commentary#1314Space Station 13 Review | AHELP: Clown Grief Pls Ban He™
SsethTzeentach
“No SS13 discussion is complete without linking to SsethTzeentach's infamous absurd-sounding review”
3 HN recommenders · 2021–2023
commentary#1346What Games Are Like For Someone Who Doesn't Play Games
Razbuten
“The video has a bunch of other interesting observations.”
4 HN recommenders · 2019–2023
commentary#1409TUN: Un-Ruining the MMO
MrBtongue
“it's one of the best videos explaining this concept.”
2 HN recommenders · 2016–2022
talk#1502Procedurally Crafting Manhattan for Marvel's Spider-Man
GDC Festival of Gaming
“There's a great talk about Procedurally Generating Manhattan for Spiderman that's worth watching”
3 HN recommenders · 2019–2022
talk#1528PRACTICE 2018: Joseph White
NYU Game Center
“talk about the design philosophy of Pico-8”
2 HN recommenders · 2018–2022
talk#15671,500 Slot Machines Walk into a Bar: Adventures in Quantity Over Quality
GDC Festival of Gaming
“They procedurally generated 1,500+ different iterations on top of the same Unity-based slots shovelware using noun/adjective pairs.”
3 HN recommenders · 2020–2026
talk#1592Playing to Lose: AI and "Civilization" (Soren Johnson)
Google TechTalks
“Extremely enlightening, whether you are a gamer or not.”
2 HN recommenders · 2011–2026
talk#1656Classic Game Postmortem: Fallout
GDC Festival of Gaming
“GDC post mortems are amazing, especially the ones on Diablo[0] and Fallout[1].”
3 HN recommenders · 2018–2025
talk#1706GDC 2010: Sid Meier Keynote - "Everything You Know is Wrong"
GameSpot
“Sid Meier (Civilization) gave a great GDC keynote in 2010”
2 HN recommenders · 2014–2019
commentary#1771Gambling and the desire machine | Pay to Win
Jimmy McGee
“it's a genuinely interesting exploration on the murky history of video games and gambling”
3 HN recommenders · 2022–2024
demo#1781"Devs Play" S1E06 - Psychonauts "The SMK Speedrun" [1/1]
Double Fine
“They had a speedrunner running their game in front of the development team which is hilarious.”
3 HN recommenders · 2019–2022
commentary#1853Ross's Game Dungeon: Deus Ex - Human Revolution
Accursed Farms
“is a delightful critique of the subject matter”
3 HN recommenders · 2020–2022
talk#1863Let’s go whaling: Tricks for monetising mobile game players with free-to-play
PocketGamerbiz
“Must see video for anyone interested in the topic, from someone explaining how to do these monetizations tactics”
3 HN recommenders · 2019–2026
talk#1929Meaningful Play: Getting Gamification Right
Google TechTalks
“getting it right can make really powerful games”
3 HN recommenders · 2012–2014
commentary#1939Sequelitis - Mega Man Classic vs. Mega Man X
Egoraptor
“it does make some very very good points about video game design”
3 HN recommenders · 2012–2020
talk#2015Classic Game Postmortem - Another World
GDC Festival of Gaming
“it's one of the better GDC talks”
4 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
talk#2018How to Survive in Gamedev for Eleven Years Without a Hit
GDC Festival of Gaming
“you can redefine your idea of "success" a little and make a comfortable living”
3 HN recommenders · 2017–2024
talk#2047Diablo: Original Game Development
jon d
“GDC post mortems are amazing, especially the ones on Diablo[0] and Fallout[1].”
3 HN recommenders · 2021–2023
talk#2049Put Your Name on Your Game, a Talk by Bennett Foddy and Zach Gage
GDC Festival of Gaming
“Great talk on that from the GettingOverIt/QWOP dev”
3 HN recommenders · 2020–2025
talk#2171Classic Game Postmortem: Alone in the Dark
GDC Festival of Gaming
“There is a very nice presentation [1] in which Raynal shows some of the old tools that were used to create Alone in the Dark.”
3 HN recommenders · 2019–2023
commentary#2389The Addictive Cost Of Predatory Videogame Monetization (The Jimquisition)
Stephanie Sterling
“especially the section where he quotes from a talk by one such developer [2].”
2 HN recommenders · 2020–2022
talk#2532RimWorld: Contrarian, Ridiculous, and Impossible Game Design Methods
GDC Festival of Gaming
“Strong recommend, if only to understand how RimWorld was designed and built.”
2 HN recommenders · 2020–2026
talk#2664Pitfall: A Classic Game Postmortem
GDC Festival of Gaming
“I'm linking at the relevant timestamp, but the whole video is pure Atari 2600 goodness.”
2 HN recommenders · 2021–2024
talk#2837The Implementation of Rewind in Braid
GDC Festival of Gaming
“Here's a GDC talk about the rewind system in which he explains some of the hurdles he had to deal with”
2 HN recommenders · 2018–2023
commentary#2911[Highlight] StarCraft Remastered Rant
Day9TV
“day[9] (ex Broodwar pro, current caster of many games) probably makes the argument better than I can here”
2 HN recommenders · 2017–2019
interview#3057How Localizing Return of the Obra Dinn Nearly Sunk the Game | War Stories | Ars Technica
Ars Technica
“combining one of my fave video series with one of my fave gamedevs.”
2 HN recommenders · 2020–2023
explainer#3142Games Should Not Cost $60 Anymore - Inflation, Microtransactions, and Publishing - Extra Credits
Extra Credits
“This 6 min video explains from game dev perspective why (AAA) games have been pegged at $60 on release”
2 HN recommenders · 2018–2021
commentary#3169The Next Major RTS Will Fail. This Is Why.
GiantGrantGames
“makes a compelling case for why single-player campaign and mod-development experiences are often overlooked”
2 HN recommenders · 2023–2024
Channels HN cites most for game design
Each channel page lists every video of theirs that HN recommends.
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