Tynan Sylvester
Independent game developer, creator of the colony simulation RimWorld and author of Designing Games: A Guide to Engineering Experiences. Previously worked on BioShock Infinite.
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What they believe
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Balancing a system elegantly is not the same as giving people what they actually came for, which is emotion.
The problem with level 2, though is that it works on abstract, mechanical-level analysis of systems, which doesn’t relate directly to what players actually want from their games: emotions.
tynansylvester.comSaid 10 Mar 2015This on korrents
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In game development speed is quality, because the faster you can work the more times you can iterate.
It’s my strong belief that in games dev, speed is quality.
tynansylvester.comSaid 18 Dec 2013This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 9 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
Balancing a system elegantly is not the same as giving people what they actually came for, which is emotion.
The problem with level 2, though is that it works on abstract, mechanical-level analysis of systems, which doesn’t relate directly to what players actually want from their games: emotions.
The three levels of designer Said 10 Mar 2015
In game development speed is quality, because the faster you can work the more times you can iterate.
It’s my strong belief that in games dev, speed is quality.
Email dredging: Cutting polish and nonlinear results Said 18 Dec 2013
Quantity produces quality: the more work you put out, the likelier it is that one piece of it turns out to be the one that matters.
Speed is quantity, and quantity is quality – The more stuff you put out, the more the likelihood that one part of it will turn out to be really, really important and good.
Email dredging: Cutting polish and nonlinear results Said 18 Dec 2013
Show 6 more
The way to find a hit is to experiment a lot, not to polish.
I don’t think the answer is “polish”. It think it’s “experiment”.
Email dredging: Cutting polish and nonlinear results Said 18 Dec 2013
A small studio’s advantage over a large one is the ability to change direction fast, not the ability to out-polish it.
Our advantage is agility and lack of corporate cultural encumbrance.
Email dredging: Cutting polish and nonlinear results Said 18 Dec 2013
What a finished work is remembered for comes down to a few key pieces, and most of the work that went into it barely matters.
the final experience often comes down to just a few key pieces or insights.
Email dredging: Cutting polish and nonlinear results Said 18 Dec 2013
Narrative is not a real category; it is a cultural label for a cluster of emotional triggers games happen to share with older media.
The concept of narrative is not absolute. It is merely a label for a cluster of emotional triggers which games happen to share with certain traditional media.
The Edge of Story Said 30 Apr 2012
There is no sharp line between a game’s story and its mechanics.
There is no sharp line between fiction, story, narrative, and mechanics.
The Edge of Story Said 30 Apr 2012
The audience responds well to well-designed systems; it is the industry’s paymasters who undervalue them in favour of authored stories.
It’s true that systemic design is often underemphasized by the paymasters of the game industry.
Response to Danc’s Loops and Arcs Said 29 Apr 2012
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Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 6 things — each backed by an exact quote.
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Recent
Mixed on Photoshop CS6
My Photoshop is still on version CS6, since Adobe refuses to sell permanent licenses now and they haven't added any must-have features.
usesthis.com 21 May 2019
Uses Visual Studio Code
For coding, I use Visual Studio Code. I use Git for source control, Photoshop for 2D art, Audition for audio editing, Premiere for video editing, and our team coordinates on Google Docs and Skype.
usesthis.com 21 May 2019
Uses Unity
RimWorld is developed in the Unity engine - still on old version 5.6.
usesthis.com 21 May 2019
Show 3 more
Uses Dell XPS-15
I've got a giant home-built desktop PC and a Dell XPS-15 laptop I use for development.
usesthis.com 21 May 2019
Uses Razer DeathAdder
My monitor is an old Dell 24-incher; I use a Razer DeathAdder mouse and a Razer Black Widow mechanical keyboard.
usesthis.com 21 May 2019
Loved Herman Miller Embody
More important than all of this, perhaps is my chair - a Herman Miller Embody that makes it comfortable and not horribly unhealthy to work for extended periods.
usesthis.com 21 May 2019
Where they publish
x.com @TynanSylvester
Recent
- Astra can play RimWorld to the credits screen all by itself. This is an inflection point in AI capability. 7 Sept 2026
- I'll be at GenCon on Saturday. Anyone else going? 29 Jul 2026
- Honestly The Ring is strange. There's a movie tape. Then a phone call. Which is connected to a girl in a well. Who comes out of the TV. Lotta different home appliances involved. 12 May 2026
Show 17 more
- I got this one 28 Mar 2026
- It's underappreciated how little freedom you have while designing a game. You can't just make what you want. You have to to make what works, and you don't get to choose that. 23 Mar 2026
- So DLSS 5 is basically facetune for video games. 17 Mar 2026
- Amazing example of what game design iteration and pivoting actually look like: 27 Feb 2026 youtube.com
- The people in AI-generated videos seem conscious. Imagine a video generator that runs in real time and shows a man in an empty room. You can talk to him; he talks back. He paces around, gets bored, eats, asks questions. Is this a "video model" or a simulated universe? 18 Feb 2026
- A game idea should be at least 90% mechanics and less than 10% story. Any more than 10% story is a red flag. 22 Jan 2026
- Prefer to design from imagination and play, not spreadsheets. Spreadsheets round off too many spiky bits and kill serendipity. 21 Jan 2026
- Why do people say AI "just" predicts the next token as though this is somehow simpler than thinking? If you can predict what someone will say, you must be tracing the same processes they used to generate those words. You must recreate their thought process. You must think. 3 Jan 2026
- Merry Christmas / Rimmas! 26 Dec 2025
- Only issue with this is that gravship doesn't look nearly misshapen enough (source in reply) 20 Oct 2025
- Lots of games can be made by just starting to mess around and seeing what works. You get a guy on screen, have him jump on stuff, or shoot stuff. Or you put a city on screen, click on squares to build houses. And so on. Such games are easy to find because they don't require a theory of what's going to work. You just try random simple things and see what feels good and chase that. It's not easy to do well, but it's a shallow process. But as time goes on, such low-theory games are more and more oversaturated. The basic "objects bumping into each other" and "map painting" and "number goes up" de… 8 Oct 2025
- The idea of 5 senses is so wrong. We have at least 14. sight hearing taste smell touch temperature hunger/satiety thirst thoughts - you can tell what you are thinking proprioception - position of your body nociception - damage detection muscle fatigue - tired muscles and lactic acid buildup acceleration - via the inner ear, used for balance CO2 - your lungs detect carbon dioxide directly to make you breathe A likely more I haven't even thought of. 1 Oct 2025
- I had a great trip to the @Krafton_inc Developer Conference to do the keynote. Everyone was welcoming and questions were high level. Thanks guys. 1 Oct 2025
- I got interviewed in Korea! Loved his energy 15 Sept 2025 youtube.com
- Centipede [source in reply] 10 Sept 2025
- Some games are just harder to design than others. Eg A Paradox-style grand strategy game requires much more design ability to do well than an action platformer. More interacting systems, more situations to think about, longer play times and thus scarcer test feedback. 7 Sept 2025
- A lot of the time the devs want to do the same thing again too. They are afraid to start from zero and want to extend the previous success. Or they are the kind of people who make a certain game and they can't do anything else. Narrow genius. 7 Sept 2025
Link verified 5 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
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