A Theory of Fun for Game Design (Paperback) by Raph Koster, Will Wright

from tomhudson

Perhaps because the one or two core ideas are old hat and well-accepted*, this book underwhelmed. Very readable, but not much to retain or apply. His concluding exhortations about the potential of games seemed to be cherished beliefs but presented without enough support to be useful, aimed more a...

from techszewski

If I ever teach a class on video games this will be the first book I add to the syllabus. A must-read for gamers, casual gamers and designers of interactive digital environments. More importantly, I think this book is a must-read for parents and teachers. Koster does a great job of explaining wha...

from JenneB

Some interesting ideas, about the art of game design. The only thing I didn't like was that a lot of the little cartoons were of the "I'm afraid of my wife" variety, which I just think is so puerile and lame. Jeez, guy, don't have a wife then, if you think she's so controlling and incomprehensible.

from GeertHa

This book has brilliant passages convincing the reader that games are capable of more than just escapism. However, this book is also an unstructured mess. It takes you on a road that leads through all kind of allies and mountain passages so to speak, but you don't really know where he is taking y...