Game Design

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…

DiRT Rally: Skill Range and More

Nonsense explained by game design.

Published on October 6, 2018

People all around the Internet were praising DiRT Rally for its realism and unforgiving rally driving experience. When trying it, a couple of minutes into the game, I hit huge rock at high speed, my car rolled over several times until stopping upside down. A message popped up saying something like press enter to recover vehicle, which I did, and then I was instantly back to the road, ready to keep racing. Instead of killing the virtual me, the game merely gave me a 15-second penalty. Come on, are they really calling this nonsense a realistic simulation?! 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…