Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
Sign in to keep track of books you’ve read and want to read.
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 PlayKatie 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 participants in game culture, the authors have written Rules of Play as a catalyst for innovation, filled with new concepts, strategies, and methodologies for creating and understanding games. Building an aesthetics of interactive systems, Salen and Zimmerman define core concepts like "play," "design," and "interactivity." They look at games through a series of eighteen "game design schemas," or conceptual frameworks, including games as systems of emergence and information, as contexts for social play, as a storytelling medium, and as sites of cultural resistance.
Read more
Written for game scholars, game developers, and interactive designers, Rules of Playis a textbook, reference book, and theoretical guide. It is the first comprehensive attempt to establish a solid theoretical framework for the emerging discipline of game design.
Liked Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals? Here’s where I’d start.
These suit anyone who liked Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.
-
Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games Shares game design, games, design -
Challenges for Game Designers Shares game design, games, design -
Theory of Fun for Game Design Shares game design, games, design -
Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design Shares game design, games, nonfiction
“People who read Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals tend to reach for these next.”
“If you want more of the same (education about games), start with these.”
“If it was the game design that hooked you, try one of these.”
“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”
-
Understanding video games: the essential introduction
-
The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design
-
Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games and Their Impact on the People Who Play Them
-
Universal Principles of Design: 100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach Through Design