FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION
An Approach to the Task
Over the years, people have tried many approaches to game design, and some of them are better than others. A few tend to result in catastrophic failures. This book teaches you a way to think about what you are actually trying to accomplish so that you'll be more likely to succeed than fail.
Some people like to think of game design as an art, a process of imagination that draws on a mysterious wellspring of creativity. They think of game designers as artists, and they suppose that game designers spend their time indulging in flights of imagination. Other people, often more mathematically or technologically oriented, see game design as a type of engineering. They concentrate on the methodology for determining and balancing the rules of play. Game design to these people is a set of techniques. Aesthetics are a minor consideration.
Each of these views is incomplete. Game design is not purely an art because it is not primarily a means of aesthetic expression. Nor is game design an act of pure engineering. It's not bound by rigorous standards or formal methods. The goal of a game is to entertain through play, and designing a game requires both creativity and careful planning.
Interactive entertainment is an art form, but like film and television, it is a collaborative art form. In fact, it is far more collaborative than either of those media, and development companies seldom grant the game designer the level of creative control that a film director enjoys. Consequently, no single person on a design team is entitled to call himself the artist. Designing games is a craft, like cinematography or costume design. A game includes both artistic and functional elements: It must be aesthetically pleasing, but it also must work well and be enjoyable to play. The greatest games—the ones whose reputations spread like wildfire and that continue to be played and discussed long after their contemporaries are forgotten—combine their artistic and functional elements brilliantly, achieving a quality for which the best word is elegance. Elegance is the sign of craftsmanship of the highest order.
