Inspired by NaNoWriMo's "magna carta"s, this is a list of things in games that I've liked.

They are here as inspiration, motivation, and as a tribute. I hope to borrow/steal/remix/create with this, to give my own games a bit of the joy these brought me.

These should help step towards the principles I care about in games. What themes are threaded through all these?

• games i love
• JUICY (juice in games)
• Best Game Talks

Games have always been a passion of mine - I love finding games in which the devs made something they wanted to play, something that didn't adhere to some generic idea of what a game should be. As a result I love indie games and tend to abhor games with large budgets but bankrupt creativity.

I hope to continue to pull the likes/themes over to the gaming magna cartas.

I want to create games with user sessions in mind.

Do not defaulting to play-forever.

Work breaks in, give people a breather.

Help them find more balance.

Sword and Sworcery did this very well - a host npc came out, took the record off the player, took a sip of coffee, and told me to go for a walk. Then the app closed in my face, leaving me staring at my busy ios homescreen.

This experience has stuck with me! I want to do the same for my players.

Other games sometimes put similar messaging in their load screens.

Play Sessions!

I think we can go further - when a player approaches, we can ask what kind of time they want to spend. We can adjust the gameplay and story arc to fit that time, and let them reach a moody peak just in time to take a deep, memorable breath.