Book Review

Chris Crawford on Game Design

Reviewing a book from my game design hero.

Published on January 25, 2020

Chris Crawford is my game design hero. I deeply appreciate Chris’ principles and how much he adheres to them, I love the way he looks at things, the way he reasons, the way he argues. What he says resonates profoundly with me, and he has been a source of inspiration for more than 15 years. I’ve read pretty much everything he published, both in books an on his extensive web site, but curiously I had never read Chris Crawford on Game Design (New Riders, 2003) cover to cover. Now I did, and here are some thoughts about it. Read More…

A Theory of Fun for Game Design, by Raph Koster

A book review.

Published on January 4, 2019

Where to go next on my quest to learn game design? A book about fun? As a long time follower of Chris Crawford, I am convinced that fun is overhyped. I want to see games growing to be as respected as other media are. I want to see the game equivalents of Schindler’s List 🎥 and Crime and Punishment 📖 – great works which are not fun, right? Anyway, I gave credit to all praise this book has attracted over the years and decided to read it. And thus here’s my review of Raph Koster’s A Theory of Fun for Game Design, Second Edition (O’Reilly, 2013). Read More…

Designing Games, by Tynan Sylvester

A book review.

Published on September 2, 2018

In a relatively short time, RimWorld climbed to the top of my all-time favorite games (in the company of giants like Civilization IV). When I decided I wanted to learn some game design for real, it was quite natural to start from a book written by the mind behind this gem. So, here’s my review of Tynan Silverster’s Designing Games (O’Reilly, 2013). Read More…