Unleashing the inner Führer for fun and victory! By MARTIN REZNY Whether they’re real-time or turn based, realistic or speculative, most popular strategy games share something in common, and I’m quite sure it has very little to do with some sort of thought or intention. …

Yes, in case you’re wondering, that could be a thing By MARTIN REZNY Using social science approach to the design of games is actually something that I have attempted in my thesis, but since that paper only exists in Czech language, I might as well tell you a bit about…

Or why creating actual value and paying for it are the only way By MARTIN REZNY Call me a fundamentalist (with emphasis on “fun” rather than “mental”), but I simply don’t believe anyone should accept “games” that are only addiction machines, wallet black holes, or ads in disguise, regardless of…

Assuming we manage to send the prime evil of Greed back into the abyss By MARTIN REZNY I know I’m a bit late to this party, but that means that I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the BlizzCon fustercluck with the unveiling of Diablo Immortal. As an…

Desperations of a space-sandbox fan who’s still playing Master of Orion II By MARTIN REZNY Short answer: I haven’t had a gaming rig that could play current games since 1997. Long answer: Alright. After reviewing a lot of game footage, reading a bunch of reviews and think pieces about this…

A defense of single-player, distraction-free, actually immersive gaming in VR By MARTIN REZNY Wow, I don’t say that often, but what a glorious example of uncritical, one-sided thinking. As someone who’s been playing games for about 25 years now and has had a chance to try out VR recently, I…

Hold onto your wizard hats folks, interactive storytelling can get pretty crazy By MARTIN REZNY Since somebody seemed to like my article about choice in games, here is the promised continuation. But first a little bit of context, necessary because I may actually be about to present an equivalent of…

It’s time to learn the lessons of interactive organized fun By MARTIN REZNY If you’re interested in education reforms or gaming, maybe you have heard a term that encapsulates the topic I’d like to address in this essay — gamification of education. First, I’ll explain the basic concept, and then…

Why game choice systems are lame and some ideas on how to fix that By MARTIN REZNY If you’re anything like me, you were disappointed by the resolution of the Mass Effect series, or found yourself frustrated with Skyrim after a while because of murder or theft being the only…

How a single person can learn alone in a room with a computer By MARTIN REZNY What a wonderful and entirely practical conception of learning using new technologies — learning to actually solve problems using the wealth of knowledge available on the internet, instead of using computers in the classroom…

Let’s review remake of my favorite game, and the future of space strategies By MARTIN REZNY In a nutshell — as someone who has spent last ten years playing the previous game in the series, Master of Orion II (no, there was no third one, shush), I must say I…

The potential of interactive violence for harm By MARTIN REZNY Normally, when people criticize computer games, it’s the tired old simplistic story of learning to mimic violence by playing at it as if by osmosis. That’s why J.P. …

My thoughts on how to bring balance back to the gaming industry By MARTIN REZNY So, EA somehow jedi mind-tricked itself into publishing a story-driven single player game with no monetization gimmicks whatsoever, and everybody loved it. Turns out people still enjoy single player games in 2019, who knew. In…

And why I believe there is hope for the future By MARTIN REZNY Since I’m a member of the first generation to grow up playing computer games from an early age en masse, I’ve been thinking for a while what we could have possibly learned from spending years doing so…