Extra Credits

A while back my cousin, an aspiring game developer, gave me a link to a youtube video about game design.  I was dabbling with the idea of game design, so I figured I'd check it out.  It was right then and there I fell in love with Extra Credits.  The channel provides weekly episodes that discusses a game design topic or concept for up and coming game designers.  I have since tried to find more information on game design through podcasts or other videos, but everything pales compared to what the Extra Credits crew does.

When it comes to video game development, passion and creativity are in no short supply.  What sets these guys apart is the amount of thought and effort that goes into each video.  Watching the videos you can tell that the topics chosen are very deliberate, and are explored deeply before being recorded.

I find that when I start talking about games from a design standpoint, there are so many moving parts that  it is easy to get side tracked.  The Extra Credits videos avoid this with a great deal of prep work and come out with clear and concise themes that are truly educational and fascinating.

I would say that even as a person that plays but has no interest in making a video game can get a lot out of this channel.  Topics based on general concepts like how women are portrayed give an insight on the gaming market in general.  More technical topics like the difficulty curve of a game shine light and help you appreciate the amount of factors a game has to consider when being designed.

Extra Credits is consistently good, and is one of the few youtube channels that I seriously debate rewatching from beginning to end.