Michael Iantorno PhD Candidate, Game Designer, and Writer

CategoryWrite-Up

Risk Legacy: In Defense of a Disposable Board Game

Risk Legacy is a $50 board game that you’ll probably only play 15 times. If I had tried to sell you on that concept twenty years ago you probably would have laughed in my face. Board games have long been vaunted for their replay value and durability. If you grew up in the burbs, it’s likely you knew someone with a venerable iteration of Clue or a well-worn Monopoly set from fifties...

Beating Superman: Michael’s Entry

Comic books were never really my obsession. I didn’t truly become interested in the superhero genre until I hit my early 20s, and most of my experience with come through trade paperbacks and the DC Animated Universe. Still, I’m always up for a good writing challenge and the task of beating Superman seemed to spark some interesting lines of thought. My three combatants are an eclectic...

April Write-Up: Beating Superman

Well, it looks like we’re going to try and make this thing a monthly event after all! I really enjoyed how the Ultimate Fantasy Party Write-Up turned out, and I’m hoping we’ll be able to recruit a few more additional writers for this month’s topic. We’re going to flip genres around a bit on this one and revisit a classic question: how does one defeat Superman? Now...

Dawntide Postmortem

Late last week, Working As Intended announced that it had ceased all development on Dawntide. Citing “unexpected financial difficulties,” the game has been put on hiatus until new investors are found. This marks the end of several years of development and of an open beta period that has extended almost as long. Dawntide was ambitious. The developer’s aim was to create a sandbox-style MMO in the...

Ultimate Fantasy Party: The Roleplaying Jew

Cidolfas (author of the fantastic blog, The Role-Playing Jew) has been an online chum of mine for quite some time. We did some work together back when he was  still updating the crazy-expansive Final Fantasy Compendium, and I have always admired his writing and his in-depth knowledge of seemingly every JRPG ever produced. He was kind enough to contribute to our Ultimate Fantasy Party Write-Up...

Ultimate Fantasy Party: Radiostorm’s Entry

Following in my brother’s footsteps, I bring to you my Ultimate Fantasy Party. Some of these choices may seem strange or obtuse, and I’ll be the first to admit that my proposed roster is largely coloured by my fondness for these specific characters. Regardless, I feel that together this group forms a skilled and versatile team that is ready and willing to kick some serious ass. Fighter: Samurai...

Ultimate Fantasy Party #1: Mike’s Entry

It was a long thought process, but I finally put together my group for The Ultimate Fantasy Party Write-up. Although not necessarily the strongest or most well known combatants, I feel that my party is a diverse one that can deal with almost any situation. I’d give this band o’ five a fighting chance against any danger out there, knowing that their combined skills would see them to...

February Write-Up: The Ultimate Fantasy Party

While bored at work, Radiostorm and I will sometimes hop on Facebook to discuss mundane and nerdy things. One of our recurring topics is that of The Ultimate Fantasy Party. That’s party as in “a group of people”, not party as in having a grand ol’ time with your friends. We generally debate the merits of classic and contemporary fantasy characters, and their place within...

Michael Iantorno PhD Candidate, Game Designer, and Writer