Game Maker's Toolkit

Game Maker's Toolkit (GMTK) is a video game analysis video series created by British journalist Mark Brown. Beginning in 2014, the series examines video game design and aims to encourage developers to improve their craft. It is hosted on YouTube and funded via Patreon.

Game Maker's Toolkit
Game Maker's Toolkit logo
Personal information
Born
Mark Brown

2 May (2023-05-02)
NationalityBritish
OccupationVideo game journalist
Websitegamemakerstoolkit.tumblr.com
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2014–present
Genres
Subscribers1.35 million[1]
(20 December 2022)
Total views151.33 million[1]
(20 December 2022)
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: 20 December 2022

Additional topics include game accessibility and level design. Since 2017, Mark Brown also hosts an annual GMTK game jam with design challenges on itch.io.

History

From 2009, Mark Brown worked as a freelance writer and critic contributing for GamesRadar,[2] Wired,[3] The Escapist,[4] and Eurogamer[5] among others. Brown joined Pocket Gamer, a British mobile games publication, in August 2012 as news editor and later as features editor.[6] In September 2013, he released Pixel This!, a nonogram game developed using Codea, on the App Store.[7]

Brown began Game Maker's Toolkit in November 2014, each video discusses a certain issue in video game design and its implementation in specific games. The series was inspired by Every Frame a Painting.[8] Brown launched a crowdfunding profile for the series on Patreon in 2015. He left his position as editor-at-large at Pocket Gamer in January 2017 to focus on Game Maker's Toolkit.[9]

In 2016, Brown started a new side-show called Boss Keys exploring the layout and design of dungeons in The Legend of Zelda franchise. Brown developed a mapping system to describe layouts of the dungeons.[10] In the second season, which began in July 2018, Brown discusses the layout of game worlds in the metroidvania genre, such as those in the Metroid series. A second side-show, Designing for Disability, launched in July 2018, explores accessibility in video games. It describes obstacles which may prevent some people from enjoying specific games and presents guidelines and practices that make video games more welcoming for players with disabilities.[11][12][13]

Reception

Brown's Game Maker's Toolkit videos were covered by video game websites, such as Gamasutra, Kotaku and Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Designing for Disability series is included in Polygon's summary of "The best video essays of 2018" and its writer names Brown "one of the most measured and meticulous people" in video game criticism.[14] The Telegraph mentions Brown as one of "20 gaming YouTubers you should be following", describing GMTK as "an intelligent look into the design philosophy behind popular games".[15] Arts magazine Hyperallergic includes GMTK video "The Challenge of Cameras" in its roundup of web documentaries.[16]

Game Maker's Toolkit Game Jam

Game Maker's Toolkit hosts an annual game jam on itch.io since 2017. Competing developers have 48 hours to design and create a video game fitting a theme unveiled at the beginning of the jam. The themes are design challenges.

Year Date Theme # of participants
Creators Games
2017 14–17 July Downwell's Dual Purpose Design[17] 2,857 731
2018 31 August–2 September Genre without mechanic[18][19] 3,313 1,029
2019 2–4 August Only one[20] 7,590 2,648
2020 10–12 July Out of control[21] 18,326 5,477
2021 11–13 June Joined together[22][23] 21,967 5,817
2022 15–17 July Roll of the dice[24][25] 22,077 6,168
2023 7-9 July Roles Reversed[26] ~22,400 6,900

Works
  • Brown, Mark; Anderson, Sky LaRell (26 October 2020). "Designing for Disability: Evaluating the State of Accessibility Design in Video Games". Games and Culture. 16 (6): 702–718. doi:10.1177/1555412020971500. ISSN 1555-4120. S2CID 228982342.

References
  1. "About Game Maker's Toolkit". YouTube.
  2. Brown, Mark (5 October 2009). "The Top 7… weirdest music games ever". GamesRadar. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  3. Brown, Mark (22 August 2012). "Amazon announces Glacier, for long-term cloud storage". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  4. Brown, Mark (8 December 2009). "The Littlest, Biggest Gift of All". The Escapist. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  5. Brown, Mark (30 November 2011). "Infinity Blade 2 Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  6. Reed, Kristan (23 August 2012). "Mark Brown steps up to take over the reins from PG's Will Wilson". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  7. Dotson, Carter (1 October 2013). "Pixel This: How Gaming Journalist Mark Brown Made a Picross Game on his iPad". 148apps.com. Steel Media. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  8. Swain, Eric (30 November 2016). Episode 41 – Every Game a Painting. Critical Distance (Podcast).
  9. James, Chris (3 January 2017). "Mark Brown steps down as Pocket Gamer's Editor at Large". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  10. Geller, Jacob (10 July 2018). "The New Vid Economy: Making A Living From Crowdfunded Game Analysis". Game Informer. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  11. Khan, Imran (16 July 2018). "YouTube Channel Game Maker's Toolkit Debuts Series About Accessibility". Game Informer. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  12. Kidwell, Emma (16 July 2019). "Game Maker's Toolkit debuts new series on designing for accessibility". Gamasutra. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  13. Kuchera, Ben (16 July 2018). "How to design your game for the hard of hearing". Polygon. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  14. Schindel, David (28 December 2018). "The best video essays of 2018". Polygon. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  15. Yarwood, Jack (2 October 2017). "20 gaming YouTubers you should be following". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  16. Schindel, Dan (14 May 2019). "A Roundup of Web Documentaries on Joan Miró, Stunt Work, and More". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  17. "Game Maker's Toolkit Jam". itch.io. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  18. Tarason, Dominic (3 September 2018). "Hundreds of free games with only a few bits missing from the GMTK 2018 game jam". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  19. "Game Maker's Toolkit Jam 2018". itch.io. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  20. "GMTK Game Jam 2019". itch.io. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  21. "GMTK Game Jam 2020". itch.io. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  22. "GMTK Game Jam 2021". itch.io. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  23. "The Best Games from GMTK Game Jam 2021". youtube.com. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  24. "GMTK Game Jam 2022". itch.io. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  25. Brown, Mark (26 July 2022). "The Best Games from GMTK Game Jam 2022". YouTube. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  26. "GMTK Game Jam 2023". itch.io. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
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