ALT: GAMES – a Powerhouse initiative, presented in partnership with City of Parramatta, Screen Australia and Screen New South Wales – is set to take the gaming calendar by storm this weekend, as the first of its kind in the entire state. With just days to go before the inaugural festival bursts into Parramatta, hype has well and truly been building around the international guests.
Richard Garfield – creator of the worldwide phenomenon (and GamesHub favourite), Magic: The Gathering – will feature as a headliner, not only starring in the lead discussion panel, but also running a separate talk of his own on game design and balance.
Recently, GamesHub had the opportunity to chat with Garfield about his upcoming talks, his interest in balance, and why ALT: GAMES captured his attention.
Read: Powerhouse announces brand new games festival, ALT: GAMES
The study of games
As one of the headliners for the highly anticipated festival, Garfield is a huge drawcard for gamers in NSW. Whether you’re a fan of Magic: The Gathering, or just a fan of game design more broadly, his insight and experience make him one of the premier speakers in the industry.
Beyond that, he’s passionate about furthering the study of games worldwide – which is one of the main things that brought him into the fold for ALT: GAMES in the first place.
“Games are my passion, and serious study of games is something that was rare when I was in school,” Garfield told GamesHub. “This has been changing over the years, and I am always interested in helping to promote that in games – ALT: GAMES is a marvellous framework for that.”
Over the course of the weekend, ALT: GAMES is set to feature a series of educational workshops and talks – from how to apply storytelling fundamentals to game narratives, through to a First Nations game workshop facilitated by Melbourne-based studio GUCK.
But it wouldn’t be a games festival without the core ingredient – ALT: GAMES will also feature a free, public digital games showcase of locally made games, across all stages of development. From early demos to fully completed games looking for publishers, attendees will be able to check out the full scope of the production pipeline in ALT: PLAY and get a stronger understanding of just how games come to be.
“I consider myself a lifelong student of games, constantly studying them and learning from them,” said Garfield. By encouraging active involvement from the gaming community – whether that be through attending a workshop, scoping out the installation, or just supporting an upcoming game – the festival is already primed to further his ethos.
Balance is the ticket
Garfield’s solo talk is set to discuss one of game development’s most important considerations: balance. While balance is obviously a significant factor for developing deckbuilder games, in actuality it’s a key focus across all genres – balancing difficulties, mechanics, and even the balance of story vs. gameplay.
But figuring out how to ensure your game is balanced isn’t always easy – especially for debut developers working on their first games. There are a lot of theories and practices that profess to solve the problem, but it’s really not a ‘one size fits all’ type situation.
“There is no easy answer to choosing a balance for a game, indeed, that is probably my most important thesis for this talk,” said Garfield. “However, a good technique has been iterative design, but always keeping new players in the mix of game play-testers and taking their feedback as seriously as your experienced players.”
In Magic: The Gathering, balance is important not only for each deck, but each card itself. With new sets coming out regularly, contemporary MTG faces a unique dilemma in maintaining balance across new mechanics, new cards and new formats. Given the game’s trajectory over the years, it’s impressive how consistently the game addresses the balance issue.
“Nothing is quite as effective as having open minded experts doing your balancing,” said Garfield. “This is a luxury a very successful game like Magic can manage, which is more difficult to get for a new game.”
“One important tool for balance that Magic incorporated early was retiring sets after a couple years,” he said. “This makes balancing the cards that are in the environment much easier (though still quite a challenge), and more important – it helps limit the complexity that new players need to face.”
Read: Getting into Magic: The Gathering as an adult has reshaped my brain
Delving into discussions at ALT: GAMES
Garfield is also set to appear alongside Inscryption developer Daniel Mullins and keynote speaker Ally McLean Hennessy (Director of Lemonade Games) for ALT: FEATURES, where the trio will discuss design, deck building and development.
“It is always rewarding to talk about games with other designers and get an opportunity to compare notes,” said Garfield. “I think an interesting topic within this conversation would be about designing a game so players create fun and varied decks rather than decks that are less interesting to play with.”
With only a few days to go before the two-day festival kicks off, there’s still time to check out the range of free and ticketed events across ALT: GAMES. There’s a jam-packed roster of very cool offerings, but don’t take our word for it – Garfield himself is excited to connect with the local industry and community.
“Game players may not realise what an amazing golden age of games we are living in, the games being created are fascinating and varied, and the study of games is moving forward constantly,” he said. “It is an exciting time to connect with the world of games, there is a lot to explore.”
Interested? Check out ALT: GAMES on the 12-13 April 2025, in multiple venues across Parramatta. Further information about the upcoming festival can be found at the Powerhouse Museum website.
