''Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals'' is a book on
game design
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 ...
by
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 C ...
, published by
MIT Press
The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962.
History
The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publish ...
.
Overview
Rules of Play expresses the perspective that a theoretical framework for interactive design has not yet been established.
This is not the first time this has been recognized or explored, but is explored in a fresh way in great detail - with one review stating that: ''"the book manages to bridge the emerging field of game studies methodologies and design theory"''.
Another review was also positive: ''"And if you already are a game designer? In this case, you stand a good chance of becoming a better game designer. Your perception of the internal workings of games will be heightened. You will see structure where before you saw chaos. You will see possibilities where before you saw dead ends. You will see opportunities for meaningful play in every nook and cranny of the game you are working on right now."''
The book is divided into four units, first introducing core concepts, then expanding on these with a detailed discussion of rules, play and culture.
Unit 1: Core Concepts
* ''
Meaningful play'' - The authors introduce the concept of meaningful play as the goal of successful game design, providing their own definitions.
* ''
Design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...
'' - The authors discuss definitions of design, and introduce their own. They go on to discuss
semiotics
Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ...
, the study of meaning, describing
Charles Sanders Peirce
Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism".
Educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for t ...
's
semiotic elements.
* ''
Systems'' - The authors introduce four elements all
systems share, as defined by Stephen Littlejohn in his textbook ''Theories of Human Communication'', and go on to identify each of these elements in the game of
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
, when framed as a
formal (mathematical),
experiential (social), or
cultural (representational) system.
* ''
Interactivity
Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...
'' - The authors connect interactivity with the concepts introduced thus far, and identify various modes of
interactivity
Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...
, citing examples of cognitive, functional, explicit, and "beyond-the-object" interactivity.
* ''Defining
Games'' - The authors discuss the relationship between play and games, highlight existing definitions of a game, and provide their own intentionally narrow definitions of games and game design.
* ''Defining
Digital Games'' - The authors insist that "the underlying properties of games and the core challenges of game design hold true regardless of the medium in which a game manifests," but they do identify four traits that are particularly strong in digital games: Immediate but narrow interactivity, the manipulation of information, automated complex systems, and networked communication.
* ''The
Magic Circle
A magic circle is a circle of space marked out by practitioners of some branches of ritual magic, which they generally believe will contain energy and form a sacred space, or will provide them a form of magical protection, or both. It may be mark ...
'' - The authors borrow the term magic circle from the book ''
Homo Ludens
''Homo Ludens'' is a book originally published in Dutch in 1938 by Dutch historian and cultural theorist Johan Huizinga.
It discusses the importance of the play element of culture and society. Huizinga suggests that play is primary to and a nece ...
'' by
Johan Huizinga
Johan Huizinga (; 7 December 1872 – 1 February 1945) was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history.
Life
Born in Groningen as the son of Dirk Huizinga, a professor of physiology, and Jacoba Tonkens, who died two y ...
, using it to describe the space within which a game takes place. They explain how players enter into the magic circle by adopting a ''
lusory attitude'', another borrowed term, taken from
Bernard Suits' book ''Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia''.
Unit 2: Rules
* Defining Rules
* Rules on Three Levels
* The Rules of Digital Games
* Games as Emergent Systems
* Games as Systems of Uncertainty
* Games as Information Theory Systems
* Games as Systems of Information
* Games as Cybernetic Systems
* Games as Game Theory Systems
* Games as Systems of Conflict
* Breaking the Rules
Unit 3: Play
* Defining Play
* Games as the Play of Experience
* Games as the Play of Pleasure
* Games as the Play of Meaning
* Games as Narrative Play
* Games as the Play of Simulation
* Games as Social Play
Unit 4: Culture
* Defining Culture
* Games as Cultural Rhetoric
* Games as Open Culture
* Games as Cultural Resistance
* Games as Cultural Environment
Guest contributions
The book is punctuated by guest contributions, including one essay and four commissioned games, each discussed alongside various prototype materials.
* ''Foreword:
Frank Lantz
Frank Lantz (born December 17, 1963) is the Director of the New York University Game Center. For over 12 years, Lantz taught game design at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program. He has also taught at the School of Visual Arts and Parsons S ...
''
* ''Commissioned Essay:
Reiner Knizia Reiner may refer to:
*Reiner (crater), a crater on the Moon, named after Vincentio Reiner
*Reiner Braun, a fictional character in the anime/manga series ''Attack on Titan''
People with the given name Reiner
*Reiner Knizia, a board game designer
*R ...
''
* Unit 1: ''Commissioned Game:
Richard Garfield
Richard Channing Garfield (born June 26, 1963) is an American mathematician, inventor and game designer. Garfield created '' Magic: The Gathering'', which is considered to be the first collectible card game (CCG). ''Magic'' debuted in 1993 and it ...
''
* Unit 2: ''Commissioned Game:
Frank Lantz
Frank Lantz (born December 17, 1963) is the Director of the New York University Game Center. For over 12 years, Lantz taught game design at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program. He has also taught at the School of Visual Arts and Parsons S ...
''
* Unit 3: ''Commissioned Game: Kira Snyder''
* Unit 4: ''Commissioned Game:
James Ernest''
See also
*
List of books on computer and video games
The following is a list of books about video games, which range from development, theory, history, to game art design books.
Business
; ''Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made'': () by Jason S ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Official MIT Press website featuring a couple of downloadable chapters and a Table of Contents
2003 non-fiction books
Books about video games
MIT Press books