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Peter McDonald

@pdmcdonald.bsky.social

720 followers 280 following 200 posts

Assistant Professor of Design, Informal and Creative Education, UW-Madison. Game and play scholar, potter and dog friend.

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Feb 6

Run and Jump is out in the world! You can grab it from the MIT bookstore, or read it through their open access portal here: direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...

I hope you all enjoy it!

Run and Jump: The Meaning of the 2D Platformer

How abstract design decisions in 2D platform games create rich worlds of meaning for players.Since the 1980s, 2D platform games have captivated their audiences.

direct.mit.edu

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Aug 21

Dr. Krista-Lee Malone is live streaming with some of the finalists for the GEE! Learning Game Awards on twitch. Tune in here: www.twitch.tv/gameranthro

GamerAnthro - Twitch

PML Gee Awards Finalists!

www.twitch.tv

Reposted by Peter McDonald

Jacob Ari Labendz (Lion Swan) @labendz.bsky.social · Aug 18

A true horror; a choice to know, discover, and inspire less. A victory for the reaction. An assault on our youths and future.

Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · Aug 18

A massive attack on several humanities units (Arabic Studies, Judaic Studies, Holocaust Studies, Classics, Religion, German & Scandinavian, Russian/East European/Eurasian Studies) *and* tenure now unfolding at the University of Oregon (a blue state!). Closure of units and faculty layoffs threatened.

I've now been allowed and asked to share more details about what's going down at the University of Oregon, which involves imminent announcement of firings, among others, of tenure-track and tenured faculty. Given the units impacted (see below), please share this with your professional networks in related disciplines and start getting ready to put pressure (or begin putting pressure already) on the University of Oregon upper admin to abandon this alleged plan before they finalize it.

It appears that, with no prior consultations, the departments of Religion and Classics (two separate units), and the programs in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, German & Scandinavian, Judaic Studies, Arabic Studies, and Holocaust Studies (the latter five all parts of a previously-consolidated mega unit called the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages) are facing imminent announcement of elimination (expected the week of Sept 7), with layoffs of pre-tenure, tenured, and career faculty in these units. The reason given is "financial exigency" -- upper administrations of several universities across the country (and in blue states like Oregon also) appear to be giddy to use the context of Trump attacks on higher ed to dismantle the humanities.

Faculty at OU won a faculty union not long ago; this may be, in part, a retaliation for that, I've been told. The union is working with AAUP, etc.; my understanding is that the maximum spotlight is needed at this point.

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Aug 18

The cover for my upcoming book, The Impossible Reversal, is up on UP Minnesota's website! Super thrilled by this design. (you can pre-order it there as well).

www.upress.umn.edu/978151791622...

The Impossible Reversal

Tracing the cultural history of play—from Fluxus to SimCityGames and gamified activities have become ubiquitous in many adults’ lives, and play is widely...

www.upress.umn.edu

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Reposted by Peter McDonald

Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · Aug 9

I believe they call this "finding out" arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

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Reposted by Peter McDonald

Kienna is sometimes a scary goose @kiennas.bsky.social · Jul 29

You can read my testimonial on the KS page, but I *loved* BFF! The Golden Years and I'm so excited to see it in this finely aged version 💖

Heart of the Deernicorn @heartofthedeernicorn.com · Jul 29

BFF is back and better with age,
Follow us on Kickstarter! 💅
www.kickstarter.com/projects/ros...

Coming soon: BFF! The Golden Years

A heartwarming tabletop rpg of elder lady friendship.

www.kickstarter.com

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Reposted by Peter McDonald

Marta @luna-storta.bsky.social · Jul 27

So Codenames (and thus CGE) has blocked me, a Trans developer and designer, because I had the nerves to send them the two replies you find below. Judge for yourself if these are worth a ban.

This is their way of dealing with empathy and care in this ongoing conversation.

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 5

Oooh. Bookmarked

Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 2

Very helpful comparison. I feel like the opening of Clair Obscur takes it's lessons from Chrono Trigger

Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jul 1

Anna makes the best TTRPGs. In addition to this, I want to recommend The Ceremony is at Hand w.itch.io/the-ceremony...

The Ceremony is at Hand by Anna Anthropy

10 solitaire role-playing games

w.itch.io

Reposted by Peter McDonald

Anna Anne Anthropy @cyborgurl.bsky.social · Jun 30

hi nerds! i released a new #ttrpg today. COLDBLOODS is a 3-5 player game about mercurial vampires. drink the blood of humans to gain their knowledge, be physically changed by your monstrous actions, and maybe - if you're lucky - earn the respect of your ancient family.

Coldbloods by Anna Anthropy

This party sucks!

w.itch.io

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 27

I think my assumption is that life in the present is predominantly gameplay (in one way or another)

Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

Yes, totally. Leap Year is what made me start thinking about microvanias.

Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

Well this is embarrassing! A knife made of whispers is from 2015. Oops!

Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

Lastly, @droqen.bsky.social's The End of Gameplay is a series of short game poems that reflects on the medium and on what it means to live honestly in the present moment. It can be played in half an hour, but its been consuming my thoughts for much longer. A really special one. (17/17)

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

I've talked about Daniel Linssen's work before, and their small offering is A Knife Made of Whispers. You must carry a light through the darkness, in an echo of games like Ico. And Linssen layers the space with an unfolding story of love and regret.

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

Mechanically, Peppered isn't that strange (though the chair-scooting is interesting), but it is ambitious and generous in a way that feels rare. It aims for the humorous and achieves the zany, like a lost cousin of Sam & Max. And all the component parts speak to one another. (15/17)

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

An inversion of that dimensional reduction is AtoB, which asks the player to strategically cut out a 2D path from a 3D landscape and then traverse it. The player can upgrade their movement, which means they constantly have to evaluate what they might be able to reach or dodge. (14/17)

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

And now the more experimental batch! First is a proof of concept called Line: A 1D Platformer. It represents height by color--gray scale for platforms and blue--red for objects and enemies. When you jump you shift hues, which reorients the player to the temporal rather than spatial aspects. (13/17)

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

Small world right! Are you doing work with GBStudio these days?

Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

Or, the shorter game Raven Star, where you play a bird kicked out of its nest because it lost its wings. You can't jump, and that lack becomes a way of reflecting on your identity and belonging. Nothing too complex, but a ugly duckling allegory made for the GameBoy. (12/17)

Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

I feel some pride in the growing number of platformers made with GBStudio and my tool PlatformerPlus. For instance, Kero Kero Cowboy. So many frog avatars in my lists. This one has Kirbyish spunk combined with levels designed to coherently push one or another aspect of movement.

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

Symphonia came out in Dec last year, and is a fun if straightforward romp (when it is not throwing precision challenges at the player). In a few rare moments it leans into its musical themes and we see the potential for another kind of game where motion and movement gently coincide. (10/17)

Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

Haneda Girl is an explosion of action with complex and responsive character controls. You dash, slash, turn invisible, and pilot a mech through short time challenges. Like its precursor, Narita Boy, the narrative elements are genre cliques that wear thin, and its levels have little character. (9/17)

Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

There have been a couple of big releases this year. I've been following the Siege and the Sandfox for a while (partly because it uses Unreal). It is a stealth metroidvania with a few really spectacular moments. But ultimately its narrative, visuals, movement play the same note too often. (8/17)

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Peter McDonald @pdmcdonald.bsky.social · Jun 26

The other game using this design philosophy is Mosa Lina: Second Layer, a big update to the original. It puts you in tiny physics arenas with a random selection of 3 of its 48 weird tools (tentacles, unicycles, bottle rockets) to work out how some solution might emerge in the intersection. (7/17)