488 Index Little Red Riding Hood, 43 lives, 275, 277, 278. See also death; health loading screens, 192–193 lock-on system, 254 Lock’s Quest, 11 loot, 373 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, 181n4 Lucas, George, 202n6, 411n5 Lunar Lander, 11 Luxo Jr. (animated short), 14 Madden series, 11 Madworld, 250 Mafi a Wars, 387 manual (video game manual), 51, 51n10 maps. See also level maps levels as, 199 radar/map, 176–177 Mario 64, 9, 28, 219 Mario Bros., 28, 206 Mario Kart, 126, 357, 384 Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, 85, 112 Mario Party, 10 Mark of Kri, 112, 135, 164, 252n4 Marvel Ultimate Alliance, 247, 378 Mass Effect series, 10, 375 massively multiplayer online games. See MMOs mathematics, music and, 342n8 Maximo, 53, 222, 364 Maximo: Ghosts to Glory armor power-up in, 361 beat chart from, 77–78 controller/Maximo correlation in, 162–163 dutch tilt and, 146 environmental effects in, 400 inventory items and, 110 metrics, 93 Mexican pizza technique and, 207 “mix tape” in, 395 “plings” in, 178 treasure chests in, 366 Maximo v. Army of Zin, 76, 87–88, 398, 426, 433 MDK, 360, 361 mechanics (gameplay mechanics), 69–70, 331–354 definitions for, 331 list of, 465 music of, 341–345 puzzles, 331, 346–351 types of, 331 Mechner, Jordan, 12n11 Medal of Honor, 314 Mega Man, 28, 373 Meier, Sid, 11 melee, 252–253, 299 Metal Gear series, 9, 177, 217, 378, 411n4 Metal Slug, 14, 174 metrics, 92–94, 450–451 Metroid games, 172, 173, 357 Mexican pizza technique, 206–207 microgames, 351–353 Middle Earth, 202 Mighty Bedbug, 251 minigames, 351–353, 375, 457–458 Miyamoto, Shigeru, 13, 25 MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games), 10, 382, 386–391 MMOs (massively multiplayer online games), 8, 382, 386–391 Mode 7, 126, 126n2 Monkey Island, 10 Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 45 Moon Patrol, 125 moral goal, 214 Mortal Kombat series, 9, 113, 211, 243, 314, 383 motivations (of characters), 53 mounted ranged combat, 270 movement patterns, 323 moving (in combat), 255–258 Mr. Mosquito, 43 Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, 214 multiplayer gameplay, 375–376, 381–391 multiple player cameras, 151–152 Muscle Man March, 45 music, 393–405 as bonus material, 374 composers, 17–18 exciting, 399 mathematics and, 342n8 of mechanics, 341–345 story theme and, 459 terms, 396 music/rhythm games, 10, 18n17, 404 Myst, 10 mystery music theme and, 398 story theme and, 459 naming characters, 53–54, 88–89 files/documents (game-related), 81 games, 49–50 levels, 207–208 narratives, 42 illusional, 232 Levine quote and, 208 NASCAR Racing series, 11 New Super Mario Bros., 359 Newton, Issac, 101 NFL Head Coach series, 11 Night Racer, 126n2 Ninja Gaiden series, 338 ninjas, 111, 309, 314, 314n12, 381 non-enemy enemies, 317–318 non-mobile enemies, 289–290 non-player characters (NPCs), 116–118, 457 “not invented here syndrome,” 80
NPCs. See non-player characters numbers health and, 276 multiplayers and, 385–386 objectives game objectives, 3, 22 team objectives (multiplayer), 384 offensive power-ups, 358–359 1 <strong>Up</strong>, 183 one-sheet, 59, 60–62 one-sheet sample, 431–433 Onimusha games, 249 Operation Wolf, 125, 174 The Operative: No One Lives Forever, 409 option screen, 190–191 original music, 395 Out Run, 5 OXO, 4 pace out, 234–235 Pac-Land, 28 Pac-Man, 5, 41, 50, 204, 232, 360, 394 Pac-Man World, 204n7, 225, 366 Panzer Dragoon, 125 parallax scrolling, 124–125 PaRappa the Rapper, 26, 43, 403 party games, 10 pathing AI, 293 pause screen, 189–190 Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (movie), 18 Peggle, 66, 122, 198 pen and paper role-playing games, 10 “pencil trick,” 158 personal computers (PCs), 8 Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev), 342–343 Peter Pan’s Flight attraction, 232 physics (game physics), 101–102 Picasso, Pablo, 28 pirates, 281, 282, 310 Pirate’s Lair, 377–378 Pirates of the Caribbean, 6n7, 204n7 pitch presentation, 417–421, 471–479 Pitfall!, 28 Pitfall: The Lost Expedition, 162 Plants v. Zombies, 199 platform games, 9, 26–28 platforms, 331–332 playable character, 111 player housing (MMOs), 389 players (gamers). See also multiplayer camera control and, 133–137 coolness and, 251 emotions of, 234, 234n17, 239, 239n19 goals of, 212–213 “love thy player” and, 46n5, 361–364 players v. players, 389–390 wants/desires of, 28–30 Index 489 player zapping, 112, 112n9 pleasure principle (Freud), 244, 244n1 plings, 178, 450 Pokémon, 25 Pole Position, 126n2 Pong, 175 Popeye, 28 Portal, 112, 219 posters, 212 Power Stone, 152 power-ups, 70, 355–361 praise, 368, 377 prerendered cutscenes, 409 Prince of Persia, 9, 12, 102, 245, 278 Princess Maker, 10 producers, 14–16, 14n13, 16n15 production triangle, 44 programmer art, 13 programmers, 12–13 progression (gameplay progression), 76, 378, 453–454 projectile combat, 299 promotional materials, 375 props, 331, 339–340 Psychonauts, 29 publishing positions, 19–22 The Punisher, 61n4 puppet shows, 71, 408, 409, 410, 437 purple cow titles, 49, 49n8 puzzle games, 11 Puzzle Quest, 352 puzzles (mechanics), 331, 346–351 quadruped characters, 109 Quake, 9, 261 quality assurance, 17, 17n16 quick time events (QTEs), 183–185, 251–252 radar/map, 176–177 raids, 10, 390 rail camera, 136 rail shooter, 271 Raimi, Sam, 146 Rally-X, 176 ramping gameplay, 338 ranged combat, 262 raster graphics, 5 Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, 102, 167, 174, 274, 277, 371 ratings. See ESRB red cross image, 183, 183n10 Red Faction: Guerrilla, 173, 222, 271 red ninja/blue ninja, 314, 314n12 repetitive gameplay, 10 Resident Evil 2, 175, 295, 348, 426 Resident Evil 4, 135, 184 Resident Evil series, 10, 49, 98, 110, 112, 113, 122, 186, 276
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Copyright Information Please note t
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This edition first published 2010
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Publisher’s Acknowledgments Some
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viii Contents Level 2 Ideas 23 Idea
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x Contents Level 8 Sign Language—
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xii Contents Level 15 Some Notes on
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About the Author After discovering
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xvi Press Start! You obviously don
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xviii Press Start! video games shou
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xx Press Start! to me. Why would yo
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T LeveI 1 Welcome, N00bs! This chap
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So, let ’ s ask this basic questi
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A Brief History of Video Games Earl
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A Brief History of Video Games A co
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Game Genres Game Genres Over the ye
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Game Genres 11 Puzzle: puzzle games
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Who Makes this Stuff? One programme
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Who Makes this Stuff? many, many sk
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Who Makes this Stuff? 17 problems (
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Writer Have You Thought about Publi
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Have You Thought about Publishing?
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T LeveI 2 Ideas Let ’ s talk abou
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Ideas: Where to Get Them and Where
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28 LEVEL 2 Ideas • Space Panic’
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30 LEVEL 2 Ideas them credit for. O
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32 LEVEL 2 Ideas 3. Something to wr
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34 LEVEL 2 Ideas Breaking Writer
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36 LEVEL 2 Ideas others are clear l
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38 LEVEL 3 Writing the Story 2. Our
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40 LEVEL 3 Writing the Story 6. An
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42 LEVEL 3 Writing the Story they s
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44 LEVEL 3 Writing the Story The Tr
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46 LEVEL 3 Writing the Story What d
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48 LEVEL 3 Writing the Story Howeve
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50 LEVEL 3 Writing the Story game.
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52 LEVEL 3 Writing the Story Death
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54 LEVEL 3 Writing the Story Comedi
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56 LEVEL 3 Writing the Story great
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58 LEVEL 4 You Can Design a Game, B
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60 LEVEL 4 You Can Design a Game, B
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62 LEVEL 4 You Can Design a Game, B
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64 LEVEL 4 You Can Design a Game, B
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66 LEVEL 4 You Can Design a Game, B
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68 LEVEL 4 You Can Design a Game, B
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70 LEVEL 4 You Can Design a Game, B
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72 LEVEL 4 You Can Design a Game, B
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The Game Design Document (and the A
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The Beat Chart The Beat Chart 77 Th
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Above All, Don’t Be a Schmuck 79
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Level 4’s Universal Truths and Cl
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T LeveI 5 The Three Cs, Part 1 —
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Personality: Do We Really Need Anot
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Personality: Do We Really Need Anot
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Let’s Get Personal 89 an internat
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Let’s Get Personal While video ga
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Finally, We Talk about Gameplay 93
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Why Walk When You Can Run? 95 The t
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Why Walk When You Can Run? 97 with
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The Art of Doing Nothing 99 When yo
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Might as Well Jump 101 1. The playe
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Might as Well Jump 103 The target t
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What Goes Up, Must Fall Down 105 Jo
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What Goes Up, Must Fall Down 107
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Be Kind to Our Four-Legged Friends
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We Are Not Alone 111 player, who is
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We Are Not Alone 113 While companio
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We Are Not Alone 115 Scout Engineer
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Who Are the People in Your Neighbor
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Level 5’s Universal Truths and Cl
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122 LEVEL 6 The Three Cs, Part 2—
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152 LEVEL 6 The Three Cs, Part 2—
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T Levei 7 The Three Cs, Part 3 —
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The Three Cs, Part 3—Controls 157
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Dance, Monkey, Dance 159 • While
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Dance, Monkey, Dance 161 • Clasp
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Dance, Monkey, Dance 163 Maximo ’
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Character or Camera Relative? 165 W
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Shake, Rattle and Roll 167 characte
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172 LEVEL 8 Sign Language—HUD and
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174 LEVEL 8 Sign Language—HUD and
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176 LEVEL 8 Sign Language—HUD and
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178 LEVEL 8 Sign Language—HUD and
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Icon Has Cheezburger? 181 The first
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Don’t Get QTE 183 • Red cross:
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HUDs, and Where to Stick ‘Em 185
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There Are Other Screens Than the HU
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The Pause that Refreshes 189 • Th
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The Pause that Refreshes 191 screen
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The Pause that Refreshes 193 • Fi
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A Final Word on Fonts 195 out of th
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T LeveI 9 Everything I Learned Abou
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Everything I Learned about Level De
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The Top 10 Cliché Video Game Theme
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The Top 10 Cliché Video Game Theme
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The Top 10 Cliché Video Game Theme
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The Name Game 207 While designing M
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Everything I Learned about Level De
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Everything I Learned about Level De
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Everything I Learned about Level De
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Relic Raider beat chart The Beat Ch
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T Levei 10 The Elements of Combat E
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400 Quatloos on the Newcomer! 245
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400 Quatloos on the Newcomer! 247 C
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400 Quatloos on the Newcomer! 251 Y
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400 Quatloos on the Newcomer! 253 W
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On Moving On Moving 255 If you take
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On Moving 257 Many games allow the
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On Guarding 259 to decide whether a
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State of the Art Bang Bang 261 does
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State of the Art Bang Bang 263 •
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The Best Gun for You 265 Here are a
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The Best Gun for You 267 • Automa
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Run and Gun 269 to a main gun and a
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Not Just Shooting 271 Rail shooter
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Not Just Shooting 273 Wherever ther
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Dammit Jones, Where Doesn’t It Hu
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Death: What is It Good For? 277 the
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Level 10’s Universal Truths and C
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T LeveI 11 They All Want You Dead V
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They All Want You Dead 283 All of t
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A shooter is an enemy that fires a
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They All Want You Dead 287 A telepo
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• A guard and a bomber. While the
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They All Want You Dead 291 Medium s
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They All Want You Dead 293 Let ’
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Bring on the Bad Guys 295 You are w
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Bring on the Bad Guys 297 like a ma
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Bring on the Bad Guys 299 They ’
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Bring on the Bad Guys 301 ricochet.
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Bring on the Bad Guys 303 Leech: th
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I Love Designing Enemies 305 A is f
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I Love Designing Enemies 307 I hate
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I Love Designing Enemies 309 M is f
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I Love Designing Enemies 311 Spaces
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I Love Designing Enemies 313 Behold
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I Hate You to Pieces 315 gets a goo
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Non-Enemy Enemies 317 comes dialogu
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Who’s the Boss? 319 At first glan
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Size Matters 321 father in order to
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Size Matters 323 safe for them to a
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Size Matters 325 When the player gi
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Why Not to Create the World’s Gre
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Level 11’s Universal Truths and C
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The Nuts and Bolts of Mechanics 333
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Holy Death Trap! 335 Cranks are lik
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Holy Death Trap! 337 I was designin
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Time to Die Time to Die 339 we are
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The Music of Mechanics 341 Gaming w
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The Music of Mechanics 343 characte
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A Nice Little Calm Spot 345 The whi
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Riddle Me This 347 While Mr. Kim ha
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Riddle Me This 349 another player s
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A Short Word on Minigames and Micro
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Level 12’s Universal Truths and C
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T LeveI 13 Now You ’ re Playing w
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Now You’re Playing with Power 357
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Now You’re Playing with Power 359
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“Love Thy Player” 361 Most powe
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“Love Thy Player” 363 the playe
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More Wealth Than You Can Imagine! 3
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More Wealth Than You Can Imagine! 3
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More Wealth Than You Can Imagine! 3
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More Wealth Than You Can Imagine! 3
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More Wealth Than You Can Imagine! 3
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More Wealth Than You Can Imagine! 3
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More Wealth Than You Can Imagine! 3
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382 LEVEL 14 Multiplayer—the More
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384 LEVEL 14 Multiplayer—the More
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386 LEVEL 14 Multiplayer—the More
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388 LEVEL 14 Multiplayer—the More
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390 LEVEL 14 Multiplayer—the More
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T LeveI 15 1 Some Notes on Music Wh
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Some Notes on Music 395 the rights
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Some Notes on Music 397 game? A tra
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Some Notes on Music 399 • Warning
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Sounds Like a Game to Me 401 • We
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Sounds Like a Game to Me 403 Be car
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Level 15’s Universal Truths and C
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408 LEVEL 16 Cutscenes, or No One
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410 LEVEL 16 Cutscenes, or No One
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412 LEVEL 16 Cutscenes, or No One
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414 LEVEL 16 Cutscenes, or No One
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416 LEVEL 16 Cutscenes, or No One
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418 LEVEL 17 And Now the Hard Part
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420 LEVEL 17 And Now the Hard Part
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422 LEVEL 17 And Now the Hard Part
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424 LEVEL 17 And Now the Hard Part
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428 LEVEL 17 And Now the Hard Part
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430 Continue?
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432 Bonus Level 1 The One-Sheet Sam
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436 Bonus Level 2 The Ten-Page Desi
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