FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION
Why So Many Tabletop Games and Old Video Games?
As you read, you will notice that I frequently refer to tabletop games—card games such as poker, board games such as Monopoly, and so on. I do this for three reasons. First, those games are likely to be familiar to the largest number of people. Not all of my readers will have played computer games such as Max Payne, and some will be too young to remember Adventure, but everyone has heard of chess. Second, simpler, noncomputerized games tend to be designed around a single principle, so they serve to illustrate that principle well. Finally, I feel that the essence of game design has little to do with the game's delivery medium. The principles common to all good games are independent of the means by which they are presented.
I also refer again and again to certain video games even though they may not be recent releases. The book is filled with references to Super Mario Bros., Tomb Raider, Half-Life, StarCraft, Planescape: Torment, Civilization, SimCity, The Secret of Monkey
Island, Tetris, and even Space Invaders. Old or not, these are outstanding examples of their genres—among the greatest games of all time. And many are actually series rather than individual games; you can buy the latest edition and play it for yourself. They all reward study.
