Research Notes on History Games, Learning Design, and Deck-Builders
Essays on Inga Chronicle, Japanese history games, learning-through-play, deck-building design, and gamification.
Why Inga Chronicle Turns History into Combos
A design note on why historical cause and effect becomes the core combo system, not just background flavor.
What Makes Historical Causality Work as Deckbuilding Strategy
How causality creates routes, constraints, payoffs, and readable choices inside a deckbuilding roguelike.
How to Play the Inga Chronicle Demo
A first-run guide for PC demo players: hero choice, route building, cause-and-effect combos, and common mistakes.
Deck-Builder Market Analysis: What Steam Data Tells Us
A data-driven look at the deck-building game market on Steam. Review counts, ratings, and what the numbers mean for indie developers.
How Slay the Spire Redefined the Deck-Builder Genre
Breaking down the design innovations that made Slay the Spire a genre-defining title and what other developers can learn from it.
The Cognitive Science Behind Deck-Building Games
Why deck-builders are inherently good at teaching. Exploring the cognitive science of learning through card mechanics.
The Lineage of Deck-Building Games: From Dominion to Today
Tracing the evolution of deck-building mechanics from board games to digital roguelikes.
Board vs. Digital: How Deck-Building Translates Across Formats
Comparing deck-building mechanics in physical board games versus digital implementations. What changes, and what stays the same?
The Philosophy of "Broken" Combos in Game Design
When overpowered combos are a feature, not a bug. Why intentionally powerful synergies can make games more fun.
Gamification Meta-Analysis: What Actually Works?
Reviewing academic meta-analyses on gamification effectiveness. Separating hype from evidence.
Duolingo and Kahoot: Gamification in Practice
How two of the most successful edtech products use gamification. Lessons and limitations.
Game Mechanics as Academic Law: When Rules Model Reality
Exploring how game mechanics can encode real-world principles, making abstract knowledge tangible through play.
EdTech and Gamification in Japan: Current Landscape
An overview of gamification adoption in Japanese education technology, from schools to consumer apps.
Minecraft Education and Inquiry-Based Learning
How Minecraft Education Edition enables inquiry-based learning, and what it reveals about games as educational tools.