Thriller writer James Patterson brands casual game design ‘sloppy’

Mystery-thriller author James Patterson reckons the games he is making with I-play – casual titles based on his Women’s Murder Club books – are better designed than most other similar offerings.

Patterson has been working with I-play on the WMC titles for some time – the first is already out and the second is currently in development.

I-play’s Jane Jensen, famed for her work on the Gabriel Knight games, designs the titles, in collaboration with Patterson, one of the best-selling contemporary crime authors.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Patterson detailed the collaboration, and explained how he and Jensen are trying to merge his storytelling smarts with her design skills.

"I talked to Jane Jensen, primarily about the story – in fact, we’re doing the same thing now because they’re starting work on the second game," he said. "What I try to put into everything I do is to have something that’s driving the story forward – and to see that the individual chapters are self-sustaining and are as powerful as we can make them. I wanted the story to have some dramatic power, something to hold you. [I wanted] the little side missions – which are a staple of casual games – to be a little more organic. In some casual games they can get a little sloppy. At least in WMC the little things – such as the parts where you have to mix the chemicals in the lab – have some relevance to the main story."

Check out the full story at our sister site CasualGaming.biz