Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Connecting Minecraft With Christ

Whether consciously or intuitively, Notch designed a low-fi sandbox that resonates with God's creation in ways that helped catapult it to the best-selling game of all time.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Generous Authority

“A gathering run on generous authority is run with a strong, confident hand, but it is run selflessly, for the sake of others.” For game designers, I think this means being advocates for and protectors of our players.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Game Designer As Host

I like thinking about the role of a game designer as a host because it naturally shifts me into a place of empathy and generosity. When I am planning a gathering, I am focused on my guests.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Seeing Games Differently

In the past, when someone asked me what I did, I would proudly exclaim that I was a game developer. These days, I tell them that I'm interested in helping people create communities, and I do that by making games.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Honoring Your Audience

The idea of honoring your audience may sound a little strange in the games industry. A lot of time and energy goes into writing articles, giving talks, and creating online courses dedicated to extracting value from players.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Our Contentious Relationship With Constraints

Humanity, now maybe more than ever, seems to be hyper-focused on the pursuit of freedom and choice. We chafe at the thought of being restricted, and we are suspicious of a loving God who places boundaries in our lives.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Game Design Requires Humility

Pride seems to always get in the way, like a little yappy dog jumping at your feet. It trips you up and hinders your progress. Worst of all, it prevents you from doing your best work.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Trophies in the Trash

I used to think that honors and awards would fill me up, but it turns out that they just left me hollow.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

A Prayer for the Joyful Programmer

Programmers have a reputation for being grumpy. It might just be a misconception, and a little PR help could clear it up. However, as a programmer and a follower of Jesus, the existence of this reputation creates tension in me. Being grumpy is at odds with the joy Jesus said should fill us.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Show, Don’t Tell

It's a technique taught in both writing and game design. The easy thing to do is tell your audience an idea; the better approach is to show your audience.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Bugs, Blame, and Shame

Way back in the garden, Adam and Eve started a game that we continue to play. We all know how to play it. I see my kids do it all the time. That game is the blame game.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Practical Peace

A simple thing I've found to help bring peace to the game development process is implementing standards.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

Unexpected Benefits

In my life, I've found that things not only go better when we follow God's principles, but we tend to reap a bunch of unexpected benefits as well. Telling the truth in code follows this same trend.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

When Code Lies

Have you ever considered that the code you write could be telling a lie? We’ll explore three common programming mistakes that lead to untruthful code.

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Amy Green Amy Green

A Game No One Plays Twice

"You can design anything to be a drug," I said, speaking to a group of video game design students at Oklahoma Christian University.

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Brock Henderson Brock Henderson

The Power of a Name

As a programmer, I spend a lot of time thinking about names—way more time than the average person. Names are powerful, and yet in our modern, western world, we forget that sometimes.

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