|
A Theory of Fun for Game Design |  | Author: Raph Koster
Publisher: Paraglyph Press
Category: Book
List Price: $22.99
Buy New: $14.70
as of 9/9/2010 03:34 MDT details
You Save: $8.29 (36%)
New (15) Used (18) from $11.99
Seller: sbd-
Rating:  45 reviews
Sales Rank: 16217
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 7.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 1932111972
Dewey Decimal Number: 794.8
EAN: 9781932111972
ASIN: 1932111972
Publication Date: November 6, 2004
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Authored by Raph Koster, Chief Creative Officer of Sony Online Entertainment, this brilliantly illustrated book is a storyboard filled with inspirational ideas for all designers. As Will Wright (co-creator of SimCity 2000 and SimCopter) states in his foreword, "Raph forages across wide intellectual landscapes and then returns to share what hes discovered with the rest of us
. He has filtered out a treasure trove of useful and relevant nuggets from a careers worth of his own research." A Theory of Fun for Game Design features a novel way of showing interactive designers how to improve their designs to incorporate the highest degree of fun. This book will truly inspire and challenge game designers, as well as artists and designers from all segments of the industry. The unique format of A Theory of Fun, with engaging text and thought-provoking illustrations, will ensure that this book becomes a classic text for designers. Already endorsed by major players in the gaming world such as BoingBoing, Noah Falstein, and Henry Jenkins of MIT A Theory of Fun covers such essential topics as: Why some games are fun and others boring Why making a game too hardor too easyis a mistake Why games have to balance deprivation and overload, order and chaos, silence and noise The difference between designing content and creating an experience Why both adults and children like to play games How playing a game and learning are connected The ethics of entertainment
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 45
 It's perfecting skills. July 19, 2010
Sean Head (Hawaii)
There, now you know the theory.
This book has a lot of some interesting material in it. Mainly I enjoyed being pointed to other resources in his notes. As far as a theory of fun, he just says players like to grok the game environment. He then explores responsible game design among other issues with that paradigm in the forefront, taking a very flat look at games.
Maybe if he gave this book a different title I would have liked it.
 A Theory of Obvious June 25, 2010
brainiac (Toronto, ON, Canada)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Like many other books about game development, Raph Koster's A Theory of Fun For Game Design is, implicitly, misleading in its title. There really isn't much about the practice of game design in this book. Instead it is more of a paean to game design by a long-time practitioner. The book is full of anecdotes, jokes, asides, and other errata from the life of a game designer. It's a form of swan song, a 'my life in games, and why I lived it' type of thing.
This isn't necessarily bad, but the potential buyer should be aware of this fact. One certainly wouldn't deduce this fact by reading the gushing praise other game industry veterans have lavished upon the book. Everyone from Will Wright to Scott Miller insists that you must have this book if you want to learn about game design. Perhaps this says more about the integrity of the peer review process than anything else. But I digress.
The primary source of my disappointment with this book is how little it actually conveys regarding the process of game design. Once one discounts the cartoons (which appear on every other page, taking up a full page), the anecdotes, the jokes, the stories about music and children ... there really isn't much content remaining. And what does remain is often either obvious, redundant, or just plain wrong.
In the 'just plain wrong' area, Raph commits many errors. He states that with a book one cannot practice a pattern or run permutations on it (makes me wonder what all those math and programming books I purchased were good for). He states that humans cannot comprehend language that is 'too deeply nested' (which is completely false - any rule of language can be learned with practice).
In the 'obvious' camp, Raph informs us that games are 'puzzles to solve'. The only difference between a game and real life, he posits, is that 'the stakes are lower with games'. A good game is one that conveys 'everything it has to offer before the player stops playing'. And, in a head-smackingly obvious conclusion, Raph asserts that 'the more constraints your game has, the more limited it will be'.
Obviously any critique of anything, be it music, writing, or art, is considerably subjective. My opinion might well differ from yours in many areas. But I think I can safely say that this level of writing is below standard. I cannot imagine, really, what anyone could learn regarding game design from this book ... unless they came at it with no knowledge of what a game is.
And this is what leads me to my conclusion: that this book is intended for children, or for someone with a child's level of understanding of games - essentially, for an outsider. The level of writing, the amateurish cartoons, the dialogue itself, all seem intended for a person who has absolutely no knowledge of what a game is, why people play games, what fun is, what boredom is ... it's instructive in a manner that is entirely facile and pedantic; rather like a pop-up book about the solar system helpfully explaining that when the sun goes away, the sky becomes dark.
Perhaps in some hippie, 70's-culture fashion, this is meant to unlock the child in all of us. But I just found the experience exasperating. I don't expect a person with years of experience in an industry to speak to me about it as if he were cooing to a child. And I expect that, if someone with such experience were to write a book, they would have something important to convey - some information that I could not find elsewhere, or deduce myself. Otherwise, why would I purchase the book?
In the end, this book simply has very little knowledge to convey. Games are puzzles. People enjoy solving puzzles. People become bored with puzzles that they can solve too easily, and frustrated with ones that are too hard. Water is wet. The sky is blue. Et cetera.
 Inspiring and Cleverly Entertaining May 12, 2010
Tucker B. Abbott (Philadelphia, PA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Raph Koster's "A Theory of Fun for Game Design" is a great book for anyone who is either a gamer or even remotely interested in pursuing a job in game design. Koster explains the psychology behind games, and explores how and why they are either entertaining or dull. Koster is short and to the point, and is very clear with his ideas. A comic every other page provides the occasional laugh, and all the jokes are relevant.
After reading this I feel like I have a firm grasp on what makes a game good, and I could make a good game as well. I am a Digital Media student focused on game design, and this book really helped me with providing some advice from a well-established professional. Couldn't recommend this book enough.
Thought provoking January 29, 2010
G. Linden (Seattle, WA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
While a bit rambling and repetitive, I much enjoyed this book, finding it useful when thinking about games and about making software that feels more like game play. The book explores what makes games fun, why we play games, and how games can serve a larger purpose of learning and growth.
The book is also quite funny with some hilarious one-liners supporting the point he is trying to make. Some of my favorites were: "Basically, our brains are on drugs pretty much all the time" and "We're just tribal monkeys throwing feces at each other in order to own the top of the tree."
A solid book on the subject of game design and "fun." January 22, 2010
Brendan Burns (Donegal, Ireland)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is by design, targeted towards games designers. This includes, but is not limited to computer/video games, board games, card games, table-top games, and role-playing games (D&D, etc.)
The author does a great job of abstracting common concepts that are fundamental to all games and should be commended for it.
Getting to the very core of and placing a significant emphasis on "fun" is what this book does best.
Academia should also consider this book as a reference/textbook for use on any course that involves games.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 45
|
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.
Copyright © 2009 Gamer Perfect. All rights reserved.
| |
