Raph Koster

I would title this Musings on Games, their position in society and the human psyche, and the concept of mastery: a deconstructionist approach but that's obviously too long a title.

Still, I think that's what the book is largely about. The central thesis is that a game is fun because it provides a task/set of tasks and the right tools/techniques for a player to master these tasks. I think it's super-interesting as a musing and theory, but I feel like it leaves out a whole gigantic genre of entertainment and niches that games occupy.

Take something like a fidget spinner. It's pretty trivial to 'master', but still provides some utility and fun. There are games that are the equivalent of a fidget spinner... simple, silly games that people enjoy anyways.

This might not be the kind of deep-level fun a career game designer would focus on, but if you're looking to 'gamify' interactions (like filling out compliance forms, or checklists, or even chores) then those are a pretty huge part of the considerations.

Slight disclaimer: I'm not a game designer but read this book wanting to know how to make non-game interactions more fun without necessarily adding points/a score or those traditional 'gamification' elements. I don't know if I got that out of it, but I got some things to think about.… (more)

Theory of Fun for Game Design* is a deceptively educational book on the topic of fun and game design. Less on game design and more on fun. In 244 pages, Raph Koster provides his definition of fun, and outlines the importance of games for learning. Koster explains that we find learning fun, specifically, we enjoy problem solving and skills development. Games are a great vehicle for both, and they have been used since the beginning of time as a means of passing on survival skills — but times have changed. Read more… (more)

Don't bother with this one. It's just $6 in the Kindle store, or else I wouldn't have even bought it, but I regret it now in any case. Luckily it's quite short, but even so I just skimmed a chapter or two.

To me, this is a collection of sometimes barely coherent stream-of-thought ramblings of a video-game executive, apparently about what makes games fun, though you'd barely know to read it. They don't really seem to have much purpose to it, except to draw attention to how educated and cultured the author is (he frequently makes comparisons to classical music and other "classical" forms of art, as if to say, hey look at me, I'm a man of the world). Also, the chapter titles often don't match the contents, like the one on ethics.

If there's a central theme to it, it's that fun means learning and then "grokking" (as in deeply internalizing) something new, though I'm not sure that revelation was worth the six bucks.

It looks like the author called up a couple of his contacts (all well known industry figures) and asked them to write a glowing cover blurb (or a foreword) to his book. Him being an important industry executive, they naturally obliged, though the generic tone of their recommendations should have been a giveaway. There's a lesson to be learned here about celebrity endorsements, kids.… (more)