Gauss Hog

Reading is boring, at least reading can get pretty boring on the internet these days. Why read a funny article when you could watch a funny video on Youtube? Why spend hours writing a blog when you could film your self in 5 minutes talking to a web cam? - the logical answer to that could be your 'fuck-ugly' but I digress – The fact remains that most of my internet surfing consists of listlessly looking for things to watch. Be it the cult classic clip of Ninja Cat or the entire series of Screenwipe by Charlie Brooker. Reading takes time and effort, both of which I don't part with lightly (Well effort more so). The internet is about avoiding effort so it's no surprise to see the content of websites drift steadily towards video content, with only a forum section for 12 year old amoebas make noise and shit all over.

However, I'm getting off topic; imagine my surprise when I found something out in the internet that's worth reading.

enter Gausswerks.

Gauswerks or Jack Monahan as he no doubt liked to be called if you ran up to him in the street to shake his hand, is an independent Game designer and down right interesting and informative fellow. I first came a across his site while watching a video no less, and spent a lazy Sunday afternoon working my way through his blog's archive enthralled by the articles he's left out there, like beautifully wrapped presents left on a park bench (Minus the bomb threat). What struck me about Gauswerks, was his ability to take a complicated idea/concept like game design, and break it down into a way that makes you understand the problem and at the same time make you care what the answer might be. It's like sitting down to a cosy documentary about quantum-mechanics and walking away from it with the feeling that you can explaining Schrödinger's cat theorem with out suffocating kittens in a boxes

What I found ultimately refreshing was his approach towards terrible games: pointing out the design concepts that went wrong, and where they could have been fixed. Often in the process he creating a new, better conceptualised game that I'm sure readers themselves would have preferred, instead of the half baked piles of crap they turned out to be on release. Should you find your self with an idol fifteen minutes I thoroughly encourage you to browse it, leave a comment and get to grips with something you wouldn't have normally given a thrupny bit about

And if not watch this cat! How awesome is ninja cat!? Lolzaurs!@!1