Sorry your browser is not supported!

You are using an outdated browser that does not support modern web technologies, in order to use this site please update to a new browser.

Browsers supported include Chrome, FireFox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer 10+ or Microsoft Edge.

Geek Culture / Books, essays or articles on game design and theory?

Author
Message
Darth Kiwi
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 7th Jan 2005
Location: On the brink of insanity.
Posted: 1st Jun 2010 14:33
Link
I'm just wondering if anyone can recommend any essays, books or articles about game design, theories of gameplay, the psychology of play and any other aspects of games which impinge on our understanding of games as a medium. It'd be great to find, say, a game equivalent of Aristotle's Poetics (a book which defined comedy and tragedy, and looked in detail at how plots, characters and theatre works) but I'm not sure if anything like that has been written yet.

I've been hanging around gamasutra for a while and their articles are pretty interesting, but I'm just wondering if there are any other resources available, whether online or in book/journal form, and whether short (gamasutra article) or long (entire book).

Secretary of Unknowable Knowledge for the Rock/Dink administration '08
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Kevin Picone
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: Australia
Posted: 1st Jun 2010 17:07 Edited at: 1st Jun 2010 17:08
Link
I keep a bit of list of related tidbits on our forum..Recommended Reading on Game Design & Game Development


New PlayBasic Learning Edition Released 24th April 2010
Back to top
Profile PM Website
Darth Kiwi
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 7th Jan 2005
Location: On the brink of insanity.
Posted: 24th Jun 2010 13:33
Link
Those are all really interesting, thanks for the input.

I managed to find a book about interactive narratives in my university library: it's called "Hamlet on the Holodeck", by Janet H. Murray.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamlet-Holodeck-Future-Narrative-Cyberspace/dp/0262631873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277375398&sr=8-1

Aside from the truly awful title, it does seem to address some of the things which interest me. I've only read the first two chapters so far, both of which deal with tangential issues. (Chapter 1 is the potential danger of immersive video games, which resonate with me given the appeal of MMOs - an impressive feat given that the book was written in 1998. Chapter 2 is about the various forms in which interactive or overlapping narratives exist, and what that can teach us about video games.) So far it's been interesting but not really what I want to read; Chapter 3 is called "From Additive to Expressive Form", though, so I think it's about to kick up a notch into the sphere of art.

Secretary of Unknowable Knowledge for the Rock/Dink administration '08
Back to top
Profile PM Email
bitJericho
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 9th Oct 2002
Location: United States
Posted: 25th Jun 2010 01:35 Edited at: 25th Jun 2010 01:42
Link
Sounds interesting. If you have a couple bucks to spend, check out pinboard.in. They've got really in-depth and comprehensive links to articles on pretty much any subject without having to sift through a lot of crud like on some other sites.

Here's a neat articles I found:

http://www.designer-notes.com/?p=240

I haven't personally read any books on the subject, though.

Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Oolite
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 28th Sep 2005
Location: Middle of the West
Posted: 27th Jun 2010 14:05
Link
I'd recommend this book, covers a lot of the practical side of writing and designing games, but also tips on the general design of games.

This is also a good read.

Back to top
Profile PM Website
Back to top

Login to post a reply

Server time is: 2025-05-24 02:02:11
Your offset time is: 2025-05-24 02:02:11