{"id":12704,"date":"2026-11-02T16:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T21:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/?post_type=tribe_events&#038;p=12704"},"modified":"2026-11-02T16:10:16","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T21:10:16","slug":"igda-presents-talk-on-game-uncertainty-and-randomness","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/igda-presents-talk-on-game-uncertainty-and-randomness\/","title":{"rendered":"IGDA presents talk on game uncertainty and randomness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p id=\"h-\">Uncertainty is the vital essence of a game, and randomness is the most surefire, repeatable source of uncertainty in video games. However, carelessly used randomness can feel unfair in a way that puts a sour taste in players mouths. In this talk, Ezra Szanton will explain 9 strategies for making randomness feel fair. Some are mathematical solutions that change the real odds, but many are psychological tricks that can make the same mathematical truth feel more fair. He\u2019ll discuss the ethical implications, practical implementation concerns, and emotional reactions each strategy brings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ezra-szanton.itch.io\/\">Ezra Szanton<\/a> is a Baltimore-based game designer and programmer. His most successful games span many genres. His work explores everyday horrors found in mundane objects, elegant systems, and the joys and sorrows of pure randomness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His games include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li> \u201cMr Magpie\u2019s Harmless Card Game\u201d is a roguelike deckbuilder published by Behaviour Interactive<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cDomino Grove\u201d is a daily puzzle game coming to the <em>Boston Globe<\/em> in 2027<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cBe Honest&#8221; is a horror personality quiz that has been played by over 400 thousand people<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-\"><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Uncertainty is the vital essence of a game, and randomness is the most surefire, repeatable source of uncertainty in video games. However, carelessly used randomness can feel unfair. In this talk, Ezra Szanton will explain 9 strategies for avoiding that result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":12705,"template":"","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"America\/New_York","_EventStartDate":"2026-11-20 17:00:00","_EventEndDate":"2026-11-20 18:00:00","_EventStartDateUTC":"2026-11-20 22:00:00","_EventEndDateUTC":"2026-11-20 23:00:00","_EventShowMap":true,"_EventShowMapLink":true,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"$","_EventCurrencyCode":"USD","_EventCurrencyPosition":"prefix","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"@","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"-","_EventOrganizerID":[1720],"_EventVenueID":[12139],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[205,363],"tribe_events_cat":[8],"event_department":[],"class_list":["post-12704","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-becker-school-of-design-and-technology","tag-game-design","tribe_events_cat-science-technology","cat_science-technology"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.1 (Yoast SEO v28.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>IGDA presents talk on game uncertainty and randomness | Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/igda-presents-talk-on-game-uncertainty-and-randomness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IGDA presents talk on game uncertainty and randomness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Uncertainty is the vital essence of a game, and randomness is the most surefire, repeatable source of uncertainty in video games. 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