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Crooked Pixels

Musings about design, technology and everything in between.

Constraint Design

Constraint Design

The best games aren't the ones with the most space; they're the ones with the best rules.

The practice of designing around limitations rather than eliminating them. Half-court basketball can't replicate a full game, but smart constraints (like clearing the ball, the 4-point circle, etc.) create new forms of play the full format can't offer.

Good products don't fight their constraints; they make them features.

TL;DR

Designing around limitations rather than removing them, treating constraints as features that shape better outcomes.