Clash Royale’s integration of Clash Mini in their Merge Tactics mode was masterful.

Mediocre craftsmen sometimes succeed, sometimes fail.Good craftsmen succeed more than they fail.But masters succeed, even when they fail. For they make the failure a stepping stone to success. Following that, Clash Royale's integration of Clash Mini in their Merge Tactics mode was masterful.While several key reasons behind its current record-breaking revenue performance may lie elsewhere (including a more stringent economy), at least based on timing it seems that Merge Tactics contributed to the Clash Royale renaissance (it got a big revenue spike upon the release of the mode).It is an inspiring case of how to turn a failure into success by smartly reusing what worked from an otherwise unsuccessful game. THAT deserves celebrating with champagne.

Javier Barnes September 23

Journal

Dreams in the Witch House

Here’s a brief review of an interesting retro-style point-and-click adventure game that just released a few days ago on Steam [LINK] and I’ve found enjoyable, although perhaps not flawless. At first glance, one could just think this is just another point-and-click game, with the only particularity of being based on the Cthulhu Mythos. But there’s a bit more than that. On top of the classic mechanics of the genre, Dreams in the Witch House has an interesting twist by adding survival/RPG mechanics to the formula.On top of solving the puzzles, the player has to deal with the main character's needs like in The Sims: having to get food, obtain wood to keep his room warm, get clothing (based on the weather), and take proper rest to avoid handicaps and even death.And like in Bully or the Persona series, the player has to study different subjects and pass exams to continue being a […]

Javier Barnes March 24

Journal

Personal 2022 Retrospective

These are the final hours of 2022 and I didn’t want to let the year end without writing a short retrospective about what the year meant to me. No gaming insights here. This is a piece more personal than the regular ones so feel free to skip it — you’ve been warned! The Best Joining King has been amazing!I can safely say that starting to work at King has been one of the best professional decisions I’ve ever taken — I only regret not doing it sooner!It wasn’t an obvious decision, though.Because before joining King I was concerned it would mean a step back in my career. In the sense that I would go to work on a much bigger game than anything I had touched before (Candy Crush Saga), but in a role that had less responsibility and possibly […]

Javier Barnes December 30

Journal

Battle Passes Deconstruction

In case you haven’t noticed, Deconstructor of Fun just published a deep analysis on Battle Passes written by yours truly. It tackles the design decisions and balance on each component, and presents some ideas on why they work and where they will go next. You can check out the full article on the DoF blog: [LINK]And the article came together with an exclusive podcast episode: [LINK] An Introduction to Passes Battle Passes were first introduced in Valve’s Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2 and later popularized by Fortnite (which still today holds one of the most advanced and constantly improving designs). But they’ve long since stopped being exclusive to mid-core, cosmetic-driven games and nowadays are present in a constantly growing amount of genres and games. The fact that Battle Passes have been successful with audiences so alien to each other like MOBAs and Match-3 Puzzle fans shows how versatile its design can be. Passes […]

Javier Barnes June 7

Javier Barnes