The games.

A table is only as good as the games on it. I make them with my daughter Jeanne. She has a bachelor’s in game design, and she’s been my sparring partner on what makes a game good and how to test it properly. Kids and grown-ups came round to play-test, evenings in the garage.

On 7 October I asked Claude for the old capsule puzzle I loved, made for two, finished that night. Then I went to bed. Less than two hours later it was on the website. That’s FLATCURE.

Then I played it, and kept asking for more. A better theme song, something catchy. More shaking, boom and bang. Pills that drop smoothly, not step by step. Clearing a pill felt a bit anonymous, so now they explode.

I remember loving those sneaking games, so we made one for the Flatboy too. That one got its own post: Hiding is the game.

I also made a game with my son, FlatTanks. You find and shoot each other in a maze. He asked for more action, power-ups and damage. He got it, and we kept playing. Even more fun.

We made that one in Flatlabs, where you make a game by describing it from your phone. The idea is that kids can do it too. Take a picture of a drawing, answer a few questions a 12-year-old understands.

Two boys of 10 and 11 explained a game where the ground is lava. They picked the look and named it themselves: Leolava.

Some bugs are better than others. Playing FLATDERBY with my son, his car started at my end and mine at his.

That’s the whole point. Parents and kids at the same table. We look at each other, we high-five, we taunt each other, we laugh.

Next: part 5, milling, and a crazy week.