Designing the opening experience [Reposted from my 2019 blog] Today, a colleague tweeted out a call for examples of good onboarding experiences in games. Onboarding is a term that didn’t originate in games, where the term “tutorial” is more widespread. Onboarding refers to the whole entry experience, whereas discussions about…

This is an updated transcript of the keynote I gave at an event called Story Hack held online on June 26th, 2020. …

A post-mortem of the first running of the Extended Experiences Lab with commissions, in partnership with the West End Film Festival. Overview From May to June, 2018, I ran the Extended Experiences Lab (EXLab). The first part of the lab in May was a two-day intensive with filmmakers who had their…

Here are all the wonderful participants in the Lab, in alphabetical order Charnstar Anderson Writer/Director Charnstar Anderson has been working as a delivery driver at Dominos Pizza since 2012, and the film industry since 2009. With a focus on editing and acting, he has won several awards for short films over the…

A play review on the game made for and with Bernie DeKoven before he passes. (Spoiler warning is further into the article, it is safe to read until then.) “As Bernie DeKoven, jedi master of play, nears the end of his life, A Game of Legacy explores what it means…

Podcast info Podcast Live consulting session We did a live discussion on how to extend a horror feature film, The Contents, with writers and director Shane Krause and Shayne Armstrong. …

Examples and ideas for extending a creative project EDIT: Check out our podcast conversation doing a live strategy extension of a horror feature film! What are “extended experiences”? As a creative, you would be familiar with the promotional work you need to do around your film (or any project). You…

“Everyone designs who designs courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred conditions.” Herbert Simon, The Sciences of the Artificial, 1996 [1969], 111 Our Safe Space Policy At the Extended Experiences Lab, we understand the relationship between structures and behaviour. We know there is no such thing as benign design. …

Dates for commission and workshop submissions, along with production launch Fri 1st December: Film submissions to the West End Film Festival open. Filmmakers indicate in the submission if they’re interested in having them film included in these commissions. See the WEFF submission page. Thurs 15th Feb: Lab & Commission applications…