Raph Koster's 2014 GDC Next talk on what science says about creativity, with practical steps game designers and developers can use to be more creative. It frames creativity as applying existing patterns in new contexts.
Why Hacker News points people here: Recommended even to people outside game development as a useful, practical perspective on how creativity works.
“I recommend his 2014 GDC talk, "Practical Creativity" [1], even to developers who are not interested in game development.”HN comment, 2018
“I recommend his 2014 GDC talk, "Practical Creativity" [1], even to developers who are not interested in game development.”
Raph Koster's creativity talk, useful even beyond game development.
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Same! Never used UOX but ran a few small private servers back in the day using SphereServer and eventually RunUO. While it didn't lead to any professional connections in my case, it was my first foray into programming. Ultima Online in its early iterations was truly a magical game and helped to define a lot of the core design patterns of MMORPGs. The lead designer of UO, Raph Koster, has a lot of great insight when it comes to game design. I recommend his 2014 GDC talk, "Practical Creativity" [1], even to developers who are not interested in game development. [1] this video
RecommendsrunevaultNov 2025
“anyone who wants more of Raph giving insights into game design should check out this old GDC talk”
More of Raph Koster's insights into game design.
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I need to sit down and give this a proper read, but anyone who wants more of Raph giving insights into game design should check out this old GDC talk he did about Practical Creativity: this video
Recommendswonger_Jan 2026
“I like his perspective that creativity = using an existing pattern in a new context.”
Creativity as applying existing patterns in new contexts.
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I watched this GDC talk recently about practical creativity: this video I like his perspective that creativity = using an existing pattern in a new context. You can be more creative by first consuming lots of different patterns in all sorts of contexts (e.g. playing lots of games, and also reading and experiencing lots of topics unrelated to games). Then you try all the different permutations of patterns in your mental toolbox. Kinda like how the sibling comment rattled off different what-ifs. EDIT oh and oblique strategies might be helpful to come up with variations on an existing theme: link
Recommendswonger_Apr 2026
“There's a gamedev talk [0] on creativity that gave me useful perspective.”
Raph's definition of creativity as permuting ideas, a deliberate practice.
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Yeah, I've been grappling with the definition of creativity too. There's a gamedev talk [0] on creativity that gave me useful perspective. Here's what I wrote elsewhere: --- i've been thinking about raph's definition of creativity [0]: permuting one set of ideas with another set of ideas (or trying an idea in new contexts) this is a systematic process, doable even by machine once enough pattern libraries have been catalogued. on a small scale, there's sprint.cards [1] or oblique strats [2]. on a large scale, there's llms... it's freeing to approach creativity as a deliberate practice rather than waiting on some fickle muse. yet it's a bit disappointing to see idea generation so mechanical and dehumanized. i am comforted by the value of mushy human abilities surrounding the creative process: mostly 1) taste, the ability to recognize pleasing output, ... [0] this video [1] link [2] link
Cites itZardoz89Sep 2024
“Digest some perspective.”
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Almost everyday, it’s the most innovative game development space. You are just out of touch. link Digest some perspective. this video
