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✨ New Interactive! The Evolution of Trust

Great news! I actually stuck to a self-imposed deadline for once in my life!Other great news -- my new explorable explanation, on the game theory of cooperation & social trust -- is OUT NOW!👉 THE EVOLUTION OF TRUST (30 min to read/play)Thank you so much for all your encouragement, feedback, and support throughout this whole project! (By the way, for those who picked a backer reward, your name/polygon/drawing is in the credits! The Patreon syst...

Screenshot Saturday: SOON

JULY 25TH, TUESDAY.That's in ten days. That's the day The Evolution of Trust will come out! Unless I screw up, but I feel like setting a deadline for myself and publicly committing to it should help me not screw up.Look at the GIF above! (or check out this higher-quality .mp4 I posted on Twitter) There's a few big changes I want to talk about: 1) It's all text now, not voice narration. This lets you go through at your own pace. 2)...

Screenshot Saturday & Character Rewards!

Whew, the hardest part is finally done: I've finished the Sandbox Mode for The Evolution of Trust! See: the GIF above, or if that isn't loading for you, here's a higher quality .mp4 I posted on Twitter:The Evolution of Trust: SANDBOX MODE(Also, if you chose the $10/month+ backer reward, I just sent out an email to you asking for a reference photo of you/the character you want drawn as a Peep!)Thank you all again so much for putting up...

Screenshot Saturday: The Ecology of Trust

Now we're getting to the real meat of this explorable explanation! In the above GIF, you'll see an evolving ecosystem of players – cheating dominates in the short run, but the long run, fairness wins.(For a higher quality version, I also posted an .mp4 on Twitter)Thank you again so much for your feedback on the Patreon-exclusive prototype! It really helped a lot – specifically, as you can see above, I've switched from narration to...

Patreon-Exclusive Prototype! The Evolution of Trust

First off, thank you for the wild response to the Fireflies project! It hit 1200 points on Hacker News and got a couple hundred retweets – not bad for a one-week side project.As I mentioned before, I needed to take a break for a side project, because I was getting stuck on my main project. I'll be honest: I may have to reboot the whole thing. But before I do that, I'd like to share with you what I'd made so far! Here it is:THE EVOLU...

Surprise! A new interactive on fireflies & emergence

Hi y'all! Just thought I'd surprise you with a short, sweet, serene simulation, before the end of the month.FIREFLIES: and what they can teach us about, well, everything.There's a few things I wanted to try with this project: 1) to challenge myself to make a meaningful interactive in less than a week. 2) this new minimalist format, where it's just one big fullscreen simulation. 3) to make something about the beautiful, transcenden...

Screenshot Saturday + Get Drawn as a Peep!

The above GIF: the intro screen of my upcoming interactive, about the game theory of cooperation and trust! (can't see the GIF? here's a link)A Patreon-exclusive prototype should be out in a couple weeks, and the full game should be out sometime next month. Then again, that's also what I said two weeks ago. Once more I am reminded of Hofstadter's Law:Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take ...

Screenshot Saturday: The Trust Game

At last! Here's the very first preview of my next explorable explanation – on the game theory of trust![If you can't see the above/below GIF, here's a link]It'll be an adaptation of Robert Axelrod's landmark book The Evolution of Cooperation. I love this book so much, not just for its groundbreaking work in game theory, but because it shows – mathematically – how even in the worst of circumstances, goodness will still tr...

New mini-interactive! "ENVIRONMENT ⇆ ECONOMY"

You know how I said I made LOOPY so I can create interactives more often than once every three months? Well, here's a new interactive, made with LOOPY, out well before three months!ENVIRONMENT ⇆ ECONOMY : on feedback loops and win-win solutionsHope you enjoy it! And I hope you learn not just about the environment & economy, but also the mental tools of finding feedback loops and non-zero-sum solutions. Also it's Earth Day next week, so ...

POLL! What interactive edu-thing should I make next?

Hi all! First off, I want to take an opportunity to thank you again for helping me make LOOPY a success, I'm humbled by all the love it's gotten, you're probably sick of hearing me thank you over and over again, and so on. <3Anyway! What should I make next?POLL: https://ncase.typeform.com/to/JukQW6These three ideas kept nagging at me during the last month of making LOOPY, and I'm excited to finally get around to... uh, one of them...

An INTERACTIVE Post-Mortem of Loopy

That's right, I used LOOPY itself to make a post-mortem of LOOPY! Also in the post-mortem, five big design lessons I learnt, and a personal story of how "thinking in systems" has helped me on a deep, emotional level:LOOPY: A POST-MORTEMThis is the first of a few interactive essays I'm going to be making with LOOPY. There's so many topics I could tackle – heck – so many topics I've already seen other people tackle with ...

IT'S OUT! LOOPY, a tool for thinking in systems

So all this time I've been making educational simulations? Well, at long friggin' last, I've made a tool for you to easily make your own educational simulation!LOOPY, a tool for thinking in systemsThank you so much for sticking with me the last three months as I made this project, I really couldn't do it without your support and feedback. (Did I mention Patreon is currently my only source of income? My OpenNews Fellowship ended tw...

Screenshot Saturday: Label your Loops!

LOOPY was almost feature-complete –– you could draw feedback loops, simulate them, share them –– but something was still missing. Yes, there needed to be a way for a user to add their own commentary, their own personal touch.That's why, this week, I added the ability to add text labels anywhere in your simulation! This way, you can better explain the parts of your model, or give a broader context... or just place emojis everywhere.LAB...

Drawing you, as a Custom Character!

First off, I'm super excited – LOOPY should be out in TWO WEEKS. I gathered all your feedback (thank you!! <3), implemented fixes, and even added one more major feature. (which I'll show you this Screenshot Saturday. ooh teaser)All that's left to do is polish up the user interface, create a website + documentation, and... draw your Custom Character rewards!. . .So, this reward is a $10+/mo tier thing, but I just realized that a few ...

[Patreon Exclusive] The LOOPY Beta!

Actually, you're getting to try out not just one beta version, but two! That's right – I totally can't decide between two different interfaces, so I'm passing the buck over to you:LOOPY [BETA]That page has a video (ugh my voice sucks), with links to the two different versions of LOOPY. The first version shows cause & effect slowly, as "step-by-step". The second version shows cause & effect instantaneously, as "contin...

Screenshot Saturday: Let's Make A Loop

Last month, I started making a tool to simulate feedback loops. Then, I showed off how you could program them by drawing them! Finally, below/above is a GIF showing off how the whole editor works:The Loopy editor – making a lynx/hare feedback loop [GIF]I also made a big change to the design! Instead of the nodes instantly & continuously changing each other – which was confusing – the simulation slowly shows, step-by-step, how things interac...

become... the POLYGON. (new patreon rewards!)

Hi all! I'm almost done with the prototype for LOOPY (a tool to make & simulate feedback loops) but in the meantime, I've revamped my entire Patreon page! There's actually goals now. The campaign description is actually not totally crappy. It even lists my more recent projects, wowwee whodathunk?But what I'm most excited to share with you today – there's a new $5/month+ patreon reward: GET A POLYGON VERSION OF YOUThe image a...

Screenshot, uh, Monday: Programming by DRAWING

I meant to post this for Screenshot Saturday, but I was out celebrating Chinese New Year, and then the news blew up, and then even more news blew up, and then I forgot. Anyway! Last week I showed off a GIF of a tool I'm making, a tool to let you simulate feedback loops. This week, here's a GIF showing how you'll actually program it.How? Drag & drop? Nah, too mainstream.Let's do PROGRAMMING BY DRAWING.Drawing a predator-prey feedba...

Screenshot Saturday! LOOPS LOOPS LOOPS

Here's a sneak peek at what I'm working on next – a tool to simulate feedback loops! In case Patreon doesn't show the above (or below?) GIF, here's a link to it:Loops in ecology, economics, and psychology!The big goal here is to make a tool so that anyone – why yes that means you, friendo buddy pal! – can easily make an Explorable Explanation. Hopefully, this will be a tool not just for thinking in systems, but talking in sy...

2017 Resolutions + 2016 Favorite Books + More Shtuff

Happy (belated) New Year, everyone!I always get reflective and way too introspective around this time of year. First off – thank you. In 2016, thanks to your support, I released three new Patreon-backed projects! They were:1. Simulating The World In Emoji 2. We Become What We Behold 3. To Build A Better BallotAnd now, some honest reflection on these past projects. Three projects in a year seems like a lot, but I'm bummed I didn't do mor...

New Thing! "To Build A Better Ballot"

An interactive guide to alternative voting systemsPLAY IT HERE: http://ncase.me/ballot (~25 min to play/read)Thank you again for all your support, feedback, and patience as I finally friggin' finish this project! If you picked the $2+ reward, your name is credited at the bottom. If you picked the $10+ reward and replied to my email, your custom-drawn character is down there, too! If I missed you or you didn't get that email – sorry, Pat...

Patreon Reward: Get Drawn as a Peep!

My new explorable explanation, on alternative voting systems, is coming out sometime next week! I couldn't make these cool lil' interactives without your support, and I want to thank you. And what better way to thank you, than drawing you as a tiny stick figure?I've increased the limited Get Drawn As A Peep reward from 10 slots to 20 slots! If you want one, select the reward on my Patreon page, before it's all gone! (and of course...

We Become What We Behold, a Post-Mortem

Last month, I made a game to reflect on what's going on. Now, post-election, I reflect on that reflection.We Become What We Behold, a Post-MortemHalf of this blog post is behind-the-scenes stuff on WBWWB, and lessons I learnt about game design & storytelling. But the other half is me trying to answer... what now?Whoever's side you were on, it's probably not the best feeling in the world to wake up and learn that sixty million – that...

[Patreon Exclusive] New Prototype!

First off, I'm deeply honored and humbled by how much peeps lovedWe Become What We Behold– so, thank you! It felt really good to make something small, artsy, and timely.Speaking of timely, here's a Patreon-exclusive sneak peek at my next project, about voting systems! It's an explorable explanation on the spoiler effect, and alternative voting systems that could let us avoid the whole "lesser of the two evils" thing every fo...

NEW GAME! We Become What We Behold

a game about news cycles, vicious cycles, infinite cycles.Play it here!https://ncase.itch.io/wbwwb(free, wear earphones)Thank you all again so much for your support and encouragement, it really means a lot to me. Everyone who selected the $2+ Reward is in the credits, and those who picked the limited $10+ Reward got a custom drawn character also in the credits! (I'll send you higher-rez versions of your rewards via email later today) Let me k...

You, in my upcoming mini-game?

My new mini-game about the media & its feedback loops is coming out in a few weeks! And I want to thank you. Only with your support and encouragement, could I explore systems & stories like this. So to thank you, here's them Patron Rewards!$10+ Reward: You (or some other character of your choice) gets drawn as a peep, and put in the credits of the game! I'll send you an email later today from n@ncase.me asking for a reference pic or descr...

“We Become What We Behold.” Screenshot Saturday!

“We become what we behold.”~ Marshall McLuhan (misattributed)Hey hey, here's another GIF of my upcoming as-of-yet-untitled game about the news.THE GIFThis minigame should be out next month! At the very least, I want it out before the 2016 U.S. Election, because – hoo howdy – there's a heavily media-driven conflict right there.Before this game's released, I might also be able to get out a few short explorable explanations, and ...

Screenshot Saturday! An upcoming minigame

Y'know, maybe instead of having just one Patreon post a month, I should actually update you peeps more often.So, here's a GIF showing off the main mechanic of my upcoming minigame!News cycles, vicious cycles, infinite cycles.After working with PBS Frontline for a while – and they're a great investigative team – I just needed to make a thing to express my/our frustrations with "the media", both traditional and social. So, t...

Nicky's August Mega-Update

This month, I moved back to Toronto! Just temporarily, though. I have to hang out in Canada for a while due to work visa reasons.Anyway, I've been feeling stuck on my main projects lately, so this month, I thought I'd take a quick break to make a bunch of smaller stuff! Here's what I've been up to:1. [Untitled Game About The News]Here's a GIF of a prototype in action!Very meta. The whole screen-within-a-screen mechanic will be...