Why you are here

My name is Mark Kollasch and I think about games. A lot. Video games are prominent in this, because they're flashy and exciting and that's where the money is, but there are many other kinds of game that I haven't forgotten about. Board games. Social games. Sports. Gambling in all its forms. Little xkcd-esque games that you play in your mind because you can't help yourself. I think about games because I play them, and I play games so that I can think about them afterward.

Lots of people seem to be thinking about games as of late. Some of them are establishing a working vocabulary so that we people who think about games can tell each other about it. Some of them are comparing notes and helping their fellow professionals to improve. Some are just looking for ways to pass the time, whereas with others, there's simply no telling how much they'll accomplish in the end.

It is my intention, through the use of this blog, to join this emerging sphere of discourse. In the future (or, to those of you browsing the archives, the present) you should expect to see my observations, ranging from trivial to comprehensive, on the design of specific games or games in general; my comments on the process of developing and programming video games; and, on occasion, my impressions of certain games from the perspective of a player.

Like so many other things, I will think of writing in this place as an in-development game in its own right. As a student, I expect that the rules will become clearer as I become more familiar with it. However, at least one thing is certain: if you are reading this now, that means I am winning.