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Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals

by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2003
670 pp., 225 illus. Trade, $
49.95
ISBN:0-262-24045-9.

Reviewed by Maia Engeli
Planetary Collegium, University of Plymouth, UK
University of Art+Design, Basel, Switzerland
University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria

maia@enge.li

'Historically, play and games have been studied in a myriad of ways, from economists using game-like simulations to literary theorists studying the 'play' of meaning in language and literature. These investigations study games or play in the service of another field. Our intent, on the other hand, is to study play and games within the field of game design." (72)

I expected Rules of Play to be a book about the design of computer or video games using some specific well-known ones as examples. But this book takes a more insightful approach. It is not a game design guide and covers the whole range of games; traditional children's games, board games, alternative games, digital games, etc. A basic assumption of the book is that, 'Games are as complex as any other form of designed culture; fully to appreciate them means understanding them from multiple perspectives' (xiv).

The book is written in a 'serious' style, presenting well-researched and framed facts with references to literature and illustrative examples. The writing style came as surprise as well; I had - naively - expected a book on games to be written in a rather entertaining manner. Nevertheless, after getting used to the style, it also felt appropriate, except for some sometimes lengthy and redundant explanations in the first half of the book. I appreciated the careful and unpretentious formulations. The authors describe the different aspects from the present state of knowledge carefully avoiding exaggerated claims, unrealistic assumptions, or wishful clarifications.

The book is cleverly structured. There is the overall division into 'Core Concepts' and 'RULES = the organization of the designed system, PLAY = the human experience of that system, CULTURE = the larger contexts engaged with and inhabited by the system' (p. 6).  Each section is divided into chapters and ends with the report of a game designer commissioned to write about his or her game design process. Every chapter - and this is the part that makes the book an especially valuable resource - ends with a comprehensive, annotated list of further readings and a summary, emphasizing in short the important concepts discussed in the chapter. I read the book from beginning to end, but it is also possible to access the content in a less linear manner. Each chapter is written in a way that it can be well-understood if read individually - the examples are always introduced in a concise way, and every reference to previous chapters is clearly indicated.

Here are just a few of the interesting themes and notions found in the book. Chapter 2 'The Design Process' introduces the notion of the iterative design process, emphasizing playtesting as an important aspect of the process. The section 'Core Concepts' concerns basic aspects regarding the study of games, like 'Meaningful Play' (the generation of meaning through play) or 'The Magic Circle' (the space and time within which the game takes place). 'RULES' starts with the statement that all games have rules. Game design is a second order design process of 'elegant' rules to create experiences. In the chapter 'Games as Systems of Uncertainty' the reader learns about commonly held fallacies of player choice. There is also a chapter on 'Breaking the Rules' and that it is important to know about different kinds of cheating as a designer. The three chapters on framing games, 'Information Theory Systems,' 'Systems of Information,' and 'Cybernetic Systems,' introduce and apply difficult theoretical frameworks too superficially. 'PLAY' is where I definitively started to enjoy the book. Play gets defined as free movement in a rigid structure. Pleasure and the double seduction of play, metacommunication within the magic circle, simulation and aspects of reality are interesting aspects discussed. The primary question in the chapter 'Narrative Play' is: 'How are games narratives?,' thereby taking a constructive approach and avoiding the 'Are games narrative?' debate. In 'CULTURE' the boundaries of the magic circle get blurred. The issues include, for example, the reflection and transformation of culture in games, open culture and how it parallels open source, cultural resistance and different ways for players to modify games.
The authors conclude by describing their writing process as pieces that fell into place and the stepwise resolution of larger patterns. 'Having built the system, played it through, and exited on the other side, we find ourselves transformed' (604). This transformation will also occur to the ones that carefully read the book. The 'system' is meaningful and offers a wonderful structure for continuing investigations into game design.

I share the following hope with the authors: 'Perhaps as the field matures, the theoretical borrowings that take place in this book will be replaced by more game-centric schools of thought. At least, we certainly hope so' (244).

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Updated 1st April 2004


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