Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
As pop culture, games are as important as film or television—but game design has yet to develop a theoretical framework or critical vocabulary. In Rules of Play Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman present a much-needed primer for this emerging field. They offer a unified model for looking at all kinds of games, from board games and sports to computer and video games. As active participants in game culture, the authors have written Rules of Play as a catalyst for innovation,filled with new...
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An impassioned look at games and game design that offers the most ambitious framework for understanding them to date.
ForewordPrefaceAbout This Book1The Design Process11Commissioned Essay22Unit 1Core Concepts283Meaningful Play304Design385Systems486Interactivity567Defining Games708Defining Digital Games849The Magic Circle9210The Primary Schemas: RULES, PLAY, CULTURE100Commissioned Game106Unit 2RULES11611Defining Rules11812Rules on Three Levels12613The Rules of Digital Games14014Games as Emergent Systems15015Games as Systems of Uncertainty17216Games as Information Theory Systems19017Games as Systems of Information20218Games as Cybernetic Systems21219Games as Game Theory Systems23020Games as Systems of Conflict24821Breaking the Rules266Commissioned Game286Unit 3PLAY29822Defining Play30023Games as the Play of Experience31224Games as the Play of Pleasure32825Games as the Play of Meaning36226Games as Narrative Play37627Games as the Play of Simulation42028Games as Social Play460Commissioned Game490Unit 4CULTURE50229Defining Culture50430Games as Cultural Rhetoric51431Games as Open Culture53632Games as Cultural Resistance55633Games as Cultural Environment570Commissioned Game588Additional Reading and Resources602Conclusion604Bibliography608List of Games Cited620Index638
