Swingpant's Game Lab

Here are the references from my talk at Flash on the Beach 2011:

Games:

Horrible Histories: Moo Spew

Horrible Histories: Gong Farmer

Shaun the Sheep: Alien Athletics

Deadly 60: Deadly Dash

Dick and Dom: Let Rip

Your keyboard doesn’t work:
The functioning key test app. Many keyboards have a mechanical issue that means if two keys are pressed, certain other ones cannot be registered as being used. On the keyboard I am currently typing on if I press [Down], [LEFT] and then [Space], the [Space] fails to work. If I press [A] and [W], then [Q] fails to work.

Test your keyboard here: http://bit.ly/keytest
(Sorry users of keyboards that aren’t exactly like the one I have here – I made the app from a pic of this one)

Accessibility

A simple introduction to web accessibility – Ian Hamilton

Recommended Reading on Game Design:
Game Design Books:

The Art of Game Design – Jesse Schell

A Theory of Fun for Game Design – Raph Koster

Challenges for Game Designers – Brenda Brathwaite & Ian Schreiber

Academic Papers:

MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research (PDF) – by Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek

Playability: How to Identify the Player Experience in a Video Game – by José Luis González Sánchez, Natalia Padilla Zea, Francisco L. Gutiérrez.

From usability to Playability: Introduction to player centred video game development – by José Luis González Sánchez, Natalia Padilla Zea, Francisco L. Gutiérrez.

Dissecting Play: Investigating the Cognitive and emotional motivations and affects of computer gameplay – Lindley, Nacke, Sennerston