Chapter 20. Artificial Life and Puzzle Games

This chapter discusses two game genres that aren’t as fashionable as the ones already covered: artificial life and puzzle games. That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with them; some extremely successful games belong to these genres. In fact, because there are fewer games in these categories, the market isn’t crowded with look-alike products. If you work in one of these genres, you may have a better chance of creating something distinctly new. However, you might have trouble persuading a conservative producer that a really good puzzle game is a better bet than another first-person shooter.

Because this chapter covers two genres, there isn’t room to explore the elements of each one; instead, we’ll ...

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