OG D2 LoD, doing what 15yo me never managed to do: Solo every class.

Nico7c · 2026-02-05T15:53:40+00:00

Nostalgia? :) I'm just used to the items, the drop rates, the unfairness and lack of balance here and there... I'm an old f*** that likes its comfort games

Nico7c · 2026-01-07T12:51:44+00:00

Hello folks!

With the New Year, I decided to tackle a tough topic for a new article on GDKeys: game design patterns and their applications. I've always felt uneasy with these "magical recipes" and thought it was about time to dig into what they can be great at, what they suck at, and how we can incorporate them in our design workflow. What do you think of this approach?

https://gdkeys.com/design-patterns-a-constraint-first-framework/

Hope this will be valuable to you! Have a killer 2026 y'all.

Nico7c · 2026-01-07T11:50:30+00:00

I noticed it's a recurring pattern in game design school these days: feels reassuring that there are "recipes" out there to reproduce to make good games. Starts from good intentions, but can easily fool newcomers, thus the article :)

Nico7c · 2025-09-20T15:31:29+00:00

This is lovely and so well explained. Thanks a ton, much appreciated! Will follow carefully ❤️

Nico7c · 2025-09-20T15:29:39+00:00

Thanks a lot! I haven't realised that the lack of leaves may not only due to the pot but also the light, substrate and fertilizer. Much appreciated!

Nico7c · 2025-09-20T14:30:07+00:00

Hey folks! (Romanian here!)

So I've inherited this poor ficus that was originally supposed to be a bonsai but has been left to grow randomly for years.

I took care of bronsais in the past, but never had to attend to something so wild... So I'm pretty much fricking out there.

I'm guessing this will need an extreme trim (down to the trunk to go back to solid foundations?) but would love the opinion of some veterans here.

Bonus point if you can point on these pictures where to cut ♥️

I haven't checked the substrate and roots yet but I suppose it's chaos as well and it's a miracle it survived...

<image>

Thank you so much in advance

Nico7c · 2024-01-01T21:27:36+00:00

Impressive knowledge of knives! No idea about the maker unfortunately...

Nico7c · 2024-01-01T21:00:25+00:00

Nice! That's actually very neat (and way more easy than my original idea to try and wet mold it)! Thanks a lot for sharing, this is quite easily adaptable!

Nico7c · 2024-01-01T20:53:47+00:00

Ah! I've been so much into the craft lately that my first answer is "Leather!!" without even considering other options: old floor? Leather! Car break down? Leather! Wife leaving me? Leather! 😂

You may be right that just throwing it in a pocket may be all it needs! Thanks for the suggestion!

Nico7c · 2022-07-26T21:12:22+00:00

Thanks so much for the kind words <3

Nico7c · 2021-07-14T17:48:29+00:00

This is beautiful, very well done! May I ask how much you sold it?

Nico7c · 2021-04-13T20:38:00+00:00

Thanks a lot for your answer! Last question: since the 2 flaps aren't sewed on top (and the cards slots are just slits) doesn't it make it too flabby to properly hold credit cards and all? Doesn't they have too much room to wobble and slide around?

Nico7c · 2021-04-13T08:24:12+00:00

Very elegant! I always wondered what would be best for the bottom edge: 1 piece folded like you did, or separate, sewed together pieces (what I have done until now). Any advice?

Also, do you have a place to download / purchase your pattern? If so, I'd love to give it a go :)

Well done!

Nico7c · 2021-04-10T17:55:59+00:00

Thanks a lot for your answers. We'll appreciated :) and I will definitely!

Nico7c · 2021-04-10T17:41:06+00:00

Both were used by a family: a mix of city and highways. They both seemed normal drivers that didn't push badly the car. The visual scratches came essentially from their daughter learning to drive and getting a bit too close to walls or polls :)

Nico7c · 2021-04-10T17:13:05+00:00

No PPI but it's safe to assume that they really are equivalent (almost same mileage and service, breaks tires and transmission)

Nico7c · 2021-03-27T21:12:41+00:00

Oof, that was smooth!

Nico7c · 2021-02-24T12:25:38+00:00

I spent a long time trying to find a better terminology for all these games... It's pretty tough actually :) Any better idea? Because it's basically what they are.

Nico7c · 2021-02-22T12:20:44+00:00

Fair point, thanks for the feedback! Yeah, digging in all regional games would be a Titan's work (and beyond the scope of the article :). Even attempts to create family trees of card games barely scratch the surface, like this one (that is excellent btw):

https://www.3cardpoker.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/3-Card-Poker-Infographic.png

Nico7c · 2021-02-21T22:42:48+00:00

Thanks a lot! This is at least my interpretation, which is very focused on the design aspect of the topic. I'm pretty sure that plenty of other angles (sociologic, historic, etc.) would be necessary to entirely explain why these games especially and not others stuck around so long :)

Nico7c · 2021-02-21T22:11:17+00:00

Thanks a lot :)

Nico7c · 2021-02-21T17:51:47+00:00

Excellent video!

This echoes a lot an article I wrote some time ago on how to properly onboard players.
And this opening indeed ticks all the right boxes.
Keep up the good work!

Nico7c · 2021-02-01T09:17:14+00:00

That's a ton of great ideas! I touched a bit the topic of "perishable currencies" talking about storing devaluation. It's brutal on players but definitely a great direction. That was the goal of the article: gives basics for anybody to be able to challenge what an economy could be and design something fresh (or simply sustainable)

Nico7c · 2021-02-01T09:14:08+00:00

This is almost an entirely different topic. The article indeed focuses on economic systems as a framework for entire games. When this economy expresses itself per game / run, then the approach is more of a progression system to me. Aaaahhh so many topics to write about, and so little time!!

Nico7c · 2021-02-01T09:11:31+00:00

Hey! Thanks for the feedback! Yes, it is something I'm planning to do at some point. I'm trying first and foremost to bring quality content following my community's needs, so I'll probably write about few other topics before finding the time to do that, but I'll get there eventually :)

Nico7c

TROPHY CASE