2026-03-24 –, Half Room
In this talk I'll discuss developing 2D tile-based games, including a simple Roguelike, in a new visual tile rewrite-based programming language. Tile rewrites are a way to express changes in state by replacing one arrangement of tiles with another. For example, the player tile "P" moving right onto a blank tile "" could be represented by replacing the tiles "P " with "_ P".
Based on the tile rewriting concept, myself and a team of collaborators are developing a new visual game programming language, along with an editor and game engine with debugging tools. In this system, the game state is the 2D game board, changes are rewrites of tile patterns, and conditional checks are based on matching tile patterns. Players make choices by selecting from available rewrites. General logic flow is handled by a behavior-tree like language of nodes that succeed or fail based on the result of the nodes they call.
Using this system, we are working on a variety of games, including a simple Roguelike with dungeon generation, exploration, treasure, enemies, and combat. We hope that the visual, direct nature of rewrite rules in the editor and engine could make them a fun and approachable way to develop small tile- and turn-based games.
I am an Associate Professor in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University, and I earned my PhD in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. My work focuses on video games, procedural content generation, citizen science, and crowdsourcing. I am co-creator of Foldit, a video game that has allowed players to contribute to scientific research in biochemistry. I have previously worked at Square Enix, Electronic Arts, and Pixar Animation Studios, and as the Creative Director of the Center for Game Science.