Mark Terrano

Games and Immersion

Games establish a unique relationship with the player – unlike any medium in history. In this fast-paced multimedia talk we looked at games in a new way, learned from a game design perspective how games establish an emotional relationship with the player and immerse them in that world. Find out why you look up from your game to discover it is so suddenly 4 A.M. Discussion and questions about making games and the game industry followed.


Mark is the design director and a founder of Bellevue, WA based indie studio Hidden Path Entertainment (recent title – Defense Grid: The Awakening, just announced Counterstrike: Global Offensive). Earlier in his career, Mark was a lead designer and programmer on titles in the Age of Empires franchise and held the lead designer position on the best-selling strategy game Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings (>10 million units). In the Xbox Advanced Technology group he was able to travel worldwide and help developers realize their game visions on the Xbox 360 platform. Mark is a serial entrepreneur with Hidden Path as his 5th successful company. When not making games he bakes artisan bread, plays acoustic instruments and makes fine art. www.hiddenpath.com