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6th out of 54 books
—
36 voters
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
As pop culture, games are as important as film or television--but game design has yet to develop a theoretical framework or critical vocabulary. In Rules of Play Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman present a much-needed primer for this emerging field. They offer a unified model for looking at all kinds of games, from board games and sports to computer and video games. As active...more
Hardcover, 688 pages
Published
September 25th 2003
by MIT Press (MA)
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Rules of Play is an academic textbook about game design. Starting from a framework with three components---the rules (organization of the game), the play (gameplay experience), and the culture (game context)---, Katie Salen introduces a (formidable) theory of game design. Two more topics are part of this textbook: an introduction to games, and an introduction to game design. While I found the theory to be on the dry side, I enjoyed reading about the design processes of five game designers, four...more
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A valuable set of schemas that will prove useful in designing any type of game. It is abstract, quite universal and of considerable theoretical depth.
I like to use this combined with Adams & Rollings' Fundamentals of Game Design, which offers somewhat more practical guidelines that are specified for digital game design. Together they offer a more complete picture.
I like to use this combined with Adams & Rollings' Fundamentals of Game Design, which offers somewhat more practical guidelines that are specified for digital game design. Together they offer a more complete picture.
I had to get this through Interlibrary Loan, so I didn't finish it, but at about the half-way mark it was interesting. There's been a lot of talk about games as art recently, and the need for a critical language for them, and I think this is a good start. A lot of the concepts are perhaps over-done, with common sense stuff being spelled out in complex language, which can become tedious after a while. Still, there're a lot of interesting ideas in this book which are just now coming into considera...more
Has so far been overly technical and wordy. Several of the first chapters are spent explaining what could be surmised in a few paragraphs. Early chapters are basically a history / philosophy lesson on why humans are compelled to play.
I read the first "unit" and skimmed through the rest of this book. The content is actually good, but the text being set in a small sans-serif typeface makes it hard to read.
Feb 11, 2013
Rurik Nackerud
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Game Design Teachers, Game Designers, Students interested in games, GBL educators
Shelves:
game-based-learning,
favorites
Theory of game design. Straightforward with four sections - could be easily used for a game design class.
Aug 24, 2009
Jeremy
marked it as to-read
Adrian A recommends I check it out. It was his textbook at VFS.
Obligatory read for anyone working in game studies.
Was a guinea pig for this book in several grad school classes. I turned out pretty OK!
Good intro to basic game design principles and thinkers. You can probably get away with reading chapter summaries, though, if you have any experience with game production, design, or critical thinking in general.
Good intro to basic game design principles and thinkers. You can probably get away with reading chapter summaries, though, if you have any experience with game production, design, or critical thinking in general.
I found this book very interesting. It attempts to create a theoretical framework, for designing games. Many popular games are analyzed in the book, and many sections were entertaining as well as enlightening. I'm looking forward to reading the anthology also by these authors.
Long winded and redundant at times. A little too familiar for something that's pretty close to a textbook. That's me nitpicking though. This book laid out a foundation for all the hunches and intuitions I had about game design and pointed out many that I didn't have.
What a tome! Good to carry as a physical weapon as well as to wield as an implement of knowledge. The bible of game theory, schemas, and animation. So what if I didn't understand 50% of it. I can say I read it, and now I know what a pixel really is.
The book uses many technical words, and is mostly an academic analysis of gameplay and games. While trying to analyse games from a serious perspective, it does not convey the message as effectively as other titles.
It's not often a book comes along that defines an entire category. This book also gives us a vocabulary to speak about games, game theory, and of course, rules, play and culture - and how they intersect.
The best academic work I've read on games. A good basic primer on the theories and framework for how games work. A bit dense for anyone not very interested in this sort of thing.
Want to design or understand some of the underlying aspects of games and their implications? You must read this book.
Oct 21, 2011
Mark C.
marked it as to-read
Acquired through interlibrary loan, and I didn't have time to finish it. Looks excellent.
pretty fun stuff if you like playing and thinking about videogames (i do)
Great starting point for those interested in play and game design.
Easily the best book on game theory that I've read. Easily.
May 20, 2013
Oskar Nordström
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
Leon
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May 19, 2013
Tombom P
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May 18, 2013
Catalin Alexandru
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May 15, 2013
Aureliano Silva
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May 14, 2013
Paul
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May 14, 2013
Buğra Süslü
marked it as to-read
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Katie Salen is a game designer, interactive designer, animator, and design educator. She has taught at universities including MIT, the University of Texas at Austin, Parsons School of Design, New York University, Rhode Island School of Design, and School of Visual Arts.
-Wikipedia
More about Katie Salen...
-Wikipedia
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