Bernard Louis De Koven or DeKoven (October 15, 1941 – March 24, 2018) was an American

game designer Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

and

fun Fun is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "Light-hearted pleasure, enjoyment, or amusement; boisterous joviality or merrymaking; entertainment". Etymology and usage The word ''fun'' is associated with sports, entertaining medi ...

theorist. He is most notable for his book ''The Well Played Game'', for his contributions to the New Games Foundation,Pearce, Celia; Tracy Fullerton; Janine Fron; and Jacquelyn Ford Morie. "Sustainable Play: Toward A New Games Movement For The Digital Age." ''

Games and Culture ''Games and Culture'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the field of culture and media studies, specializing on the socio-cultural, political, and economic dimensions of gaming. The editor-in-chief is Tanya Krzywinska (Falmouth Univer ...

''. Vol.2, No.3. Pp.261-278. July 2007. his pioneering work in computer game design, and for his long-running web site, ''deepFUN.com''.

Career

In 1968, De Koven began work on his Interplay Curriculum for the School District of Philadelphia. The curriculum was published in 1971, and a second edition printed in 1974.De Koven, Bernie; Silberman, Melvin L. ed. "Junkyard Sports: Learning Through Creative Play." ''The Handbook of Experiential Learning''.

John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...

. 15 March 2007. In 1971, De Koven and his family established The Games Preserve, a retreat center for the study of games and play located in Eastern Pennsylvania.Weldon, Laura Grace.
Bernie DeKoven: Designing Deep Fun Into Games & Other Life Necessities
" ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

''. 15 February 2013. In 1975, De Koven first became involved with the

New Games ''The New Games Book'' and its companion, ''More New Games'', were resources developed for the "New Games" movement which began in the late 1960s to encourage people to play non-competitive or friendlier games. Many of the "New Games" may now be ...

Foundation.De Koven, Bernie.
Here's Bernie
" DeepFun.com. 2013. In 1976, De Koven designed Playday on the Parkway for the city of Philadelphia - the culminating event in Philadelphia's Bicentennial celebration. In 1978, De Koven authored ''The Well-Played Game'', which ''

BYTE The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit ...

'' later called "wonderful ... a must for prospective game designers". In 1982, ''BYTE''s reviewer called his strategy game ''Ricochet'' (coauthored with Jeff Connelly and published by

Automated Simulations Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher active in the late 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before rena ...

) "easily the most original game I've seen this year ... a game-player's delight", and stated that it "expresses many of the ideals" of ''The Well-Played Game''. That year De Koven was interviewed by ''

InfoWorld ''InfoWorld'' (abbreviated IW) is an information technology media business. Founded in 1978, it began as a monthly magazine. In 2007, it transitioned to a web-only publication. Its parent company today is International Data Group, and its siste ...

'' magazine concerning the future of computer gaming; he accurately predicted the advent of games using motion control similar to the

Kinect Kinect is a line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB cameras, and infrared projectors and detectors that map depth through either structured light or time of flig ...

, as well as

app store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

and related game distribution systems, stating that networking "will greatly increase the availability of games. Instead of having to buy each game, users will be able to download more and more complex games as networks become more popular." Games preserve

Katie Salen Katie Salen Tekinbas is an American game designer, animator, and educator. She is a professor at the University of California, Irvine. Previously, she taught at DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media, Parsons The New School for ...

and

Eric Zimmerman Eric Zimmerman (born 1969) is an American game designer and the co-founder and CEO of Gamelab, a computer game development company based in Manhattan. GameLab is known for the game '' Diner Dash''. Each year Zimmerman hosts the Game Design Ch ...

, in their 2003 game design textbook '' Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals'', extensively reference De Koven's ''The Well-Played Game''.

Christopher Noxon Christopher Lane Noxon (born November 21, 1968) is an American writer and freelance journalist. Early life Noxon was born in Los Angeles, California, to National Geographic documentary filmmaker father, Nicolas Noxon, and Mary Straley. His ...

's interview of De Koven was featured in the 2006 book '' Rejuvenile.'' His role as a professional "fun coach" is emphasized, as is De Koven's involvement with the

Movement of the mid-1970s, and his later work with the

Esalen Institute The Esalen Institute, commonly called Esalen, is a non-profit American retreat center and intentional community in Big Sur, California, which focuses on humanistic alternative education. The institute played a key role in the Human Potential ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. De Koven has worked with major toy and game manufacturers to design and develop new products. Notably, he has partnered with LEGO on the development of their LEGO Game System. Additionally, De Koven has designed award-winning games for

Ideal Toy Company Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Betsy ...

Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...

, CBS Software and

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

Toys. In September 2011, De Koven was a

keynote A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

speaker at the 2011

Digital Games Research Association Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) is a nonprofit international learned society whose work focuses on game studies and associated activities. DiGRA was formally established in 2003 in Finland. It is a leading academic organization in th ...

Conference ("Think Design Play"). His talk, "Playing Well Together," described some of the underlying principles of

and his book, ''The Well-Played Game''. De Koven was a lifetime member of The Association for the Study of Play.De Koven, Bernie. "The Ball." ''International Journal of Play''. Vol.1, Iss.3. Pp.332-335. 2012. In spring of 2017, De Koven notified his blog followers that he had terminal cancer and only about one year left to live, asking them to spread the joy of play. He died of cancer on 24 March 2018 at the age of 76.

Awards

* 2006 Ifill-Raynolds award for "outstanding achievement in the field of fun" from the North American Simulation and Gaming Association

Books / publications

*
Interplay: a curriculum for elementary school children
', Office of Policy Planning and Development, School District of Philadelphia, 1971 () * "The Play Community" in

The New Games Book ''The New Games Book'' and its companion, ''More New Games'', were resources developed for the "New Games" movement which began in the late 1960s to encourage people to play non-competitive or friendlier games. Many of the "New Games" may now be ...

, 1976 () * ''The Well-Played Game'', 1978, updated edition 2002 (), MIT Press edition August, 2013 () * ''Connected Executives: A Strategic Communications Plan'', 1986 () * ''Junkyard Sports'', 2004 () * ''Great Games for Big Activity Balls'' (with Todd Strong), 2009 () * ''A Playful Path'', 2013 () * ''The Infinite Playground'', 2020, with Celia Pearce and Holly Gramazio (editors), ()

Games and interactive media

* ''Ricochet'' (1981): one of the first

abstract strategy games Abstract strategy games admit a number of definitions which distinguish these from strategy games in general, mostly involving no or minimal narrative theme, outcomes determined only by player choice (with no randomness), and perfect information. ...

for computersDe Koven, Bernard.
Ricochet
'. Automated Simulations. Accessed: 8/9/2013. by

(designer), E. Connelley, programmer * ''

Alien Garden ''Alien Garden'' is a non-game for the Atari 8-bit family published by Epyx in 1982 by Bernie DeKoven and programmed by virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier. Designed with an emphasis on the need for experimentation, ''Alien Garden'' was described ...

'' (1982): one of the first computer

art game An art game (or arthouse game) is a work of interactive new media digital software art as well as a member of the "art game" subgenre of the serious video game. The term "art game" was first used academically in 2002 and it has come to be un ...

s. Released by

. (designer; programmed by

Jaron Lanier Jaron Zepel Lanier (, born May 3, 1960) is an American computer scientist, visual artist, computer philosophy writer, technologist, futurist, and composer of contemporary classical music. Considered a founder of the field of virtual reality, La ...

)() * ''Light Waves''Wiswell, Phil. "User Views: New Computer Games - Lightwaves." ''

Enter Enter or ENTER may refer to: * Enter key, on computer keyboards * Enter, Netherlands, a village * ''Enter'' (magazine), an American technology magazine for children 1983–1985 * ''Enter'' (Finnish magazine), a Finnish computer magazine * Enter ...

''. Issue 15 (Vol.2, No.5). P.41. March 1985. (1984): computer game by

Children's Computer Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...

(designer; prototype by

Dave Winer Dave Winer (born May 2, 1955, in Queens, New York City) is an American software developer, entrepreneur, and writer who resides in New York City. Winer is noted for his contributions to outliners, scripting, content management, and web servic ...

) * ''Junkyard Games'' (2008) business simulation game published by HRDQ (designer; manual by Ron Roberts)

References

External links

* *
Bernie De Koven on Academia.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Koven, Bernie 1941 births 2018 deaths Writers from Appleton, Wisconsin American non-fiction writers American social sciences writers American humorists American video game designers Video game developers