Course · Intro
How games actually work
The design that makes a game compelling, the psychology that keeps you playing, and the business that turns all of it into money — so you can tell when a game respects your time and when it's built to extract it.
A video game is engineered, not just made. Behind the fun is a system you can see: the feedback loops that make a jump feel good, the reward schedules borrowed from slot machines that drive 'one more turn,' and the business that turns all of it into money — the 30% platform cut, the few players who fund the rest, the shift to selling a game forever. This course teaches that machine, not review scores. By the end you can tell when a game is built to respect your time and when it's built to extract from it. Principles, not this year's releases.
What you'll be able to do
- See the design that makes a game compelling — the core loop, game feel, and matched difficulty.
- Spot the systems built to keep you playing — the reward schedule, progression, loot boxes, and habit traps.
- Explain where the money really comes from — hit-driven budgets, the platform cut, whales, and selling forever.
- Judge a game for yourself — respect or extraction — and decode a gaming claim as Sound, Shaky, or Oversold.
Course complete
You finished every lesson. Put your name on it.
Module 1 — Why games are fun (the craft)
The core loop
Explain that every game is a loop — act, feedback, reward, repeat — and why tightness wins.
Why a good jump feels good
Explain game feel — the 'juice' that makes the same action feel alive or dead.
Difficulty is the product
Explain flow — fun lives between boredom and frustration, so the challenge must track you.
Module 2 — Why you can't stop (the compulsion layer)
The reward schedule
Explain why unpredictable rewards compel more — the slot-machine mechanism in games.
The number must go up
Explain how progression hooks us, and becomes a treadmill engineered never to finish.
The unknown box
Explain loot boxes — why a 1% drop means 100 opens still likely leaves you nothing.
Designing the habit
Explain how streaks and FOMO turn a game from a choice into a daily must-check.
Module 3 — Who pays, and how (the business)
Most games lose money
Explain the hit-driven model — most games lose money, a few hits pay for all.
The platform cut
Explain the storefront's ~30% cut, and why controlling distribution is power.
The whales pay
Explain free-to-play — a paying ~2%, and the whales who fund the whole game.
Selling forever
Explain live service — selling a game forever, and the fun-versus-never-end tension.