Swings and Roundabouts (Patreon)

Hey! I want to tell about a thing that didn’t happen. And then a thing that is happening.

So back in February, I got an email from a literary agent in London who liked my videos, and asked if I was interested in writing a book. As it so happens, I was interested! As much as I love video, there’s just something about making a real, tangible thing that seems really exciting.

A literary agent, if you don’t know (I didn’t!) helps you write a book pitch - and then sends it off to all the publishers to see if they are interested.

Together, we decided that the best idea for the book would be a history of game design, told through 100 different games. I’d look at everything from Space Invaders to Elite to Doom to Grand Theft Auto 3 to PUBG, seeing how each game brought new innovations to the space that would influence and inspire future game makers.

Unfortunately... no one wanted to publish the book. While the feedback praised my writing style, they didn't see a huge market for the book. And so, the book isn't happening.

To be honest, though, my disappointment was overshadowed by a sense of relief. As I wrote the sample chapters and synopsis, I started to become nervous about the deadline, the word count,  the need to make the book super accessible to a wide audience, and the impact the project might have on video output. At times, part of me even hoped that it wouldn’t happen.

But, still, I was disappointed. Not just because the book isn't happening, and not just because it feels like I've failed at something, but because I got quite excited about this idea of charting the history of game design through landmark games.

And so, I've decided that I'm going to take the idea and adapt it into a series of videos. It's called Design Icons, and an early sneak peek at the first episode is available above.

It still needs a proper ending and other tweaks, but any feedback would be appreciated. I don't know when I'm going to release this video for real, so don't expect it on your YouTube subs anytime soon. 

At this stage, I'm committing to a 20 episode first season, which will take us from 1978 to 2019-ish in 20 landmark games. If the response is good, there's nothing stopping me doing a second season, to fill in the gaps with more games. 

So - that’s (one of the many things) I’ve been up to. I’m definitely not ruling out book writing forever. Ultimately, I always wanted to do it in the far future, when I was getting a bit old for GMTK - I just thought I should jump on the opportunity when it was presented to me. And so I could definitely see myself doing a book in the long term. But right now, my love is still videos.

And I'm going to focus my time on what I do best. Thanks for reading. Chat soon. 

Mark