Raph Koster

I would title this Musings on Games, their position in society and the human psyche, and the concept of mastery: a deconstructionist approach but that's obviously too long a title.

Still, I think that's what the book is largely about. The central thesis is that a game is fun because it provides a task/set of tasks and the right tools/techniques for a player to master these tasks. I think it's super-interesting as a musing and theory, but I feel like it leaves out a whole gigantic genre of show more entertainment and niches that games occupy.

Take something like a fidget spinner. It's pretty trivial to 'master', but still provides some utility and fun. There are games that are the equivalent of a fidget spinner... simple, silly games that people enjoy anyways.

This might not be the kind of deep-level fun a career game designer would focus on, but if you're looking to 'gamify' interactions (like filling out compliance forms, or checklists, or even chores) then those are a pretty huge part of the considerations.

Slight disclaimer: I'm not a game designer but read this book wanting to know how to make non-game interactions more fun without necessarily adding points/a score or those traditional 'gamification' elements. I don't know if I got that out of it, but I got some things to think about. show less

Perhaps because the one or two core ideas are old hat and well-accepted*, this book underwhelmed. Very readable, but not much to retain or apply. His concluding exhortations about the potential of games seemed to be cherished beliefs but presented without enough support to be useful, aimed more at notgames or artgames than games.

(*) Of course, Koster's definition of "fun" isn't well accepted, but that's because he's identifying one particular flavor (out of four or eight or more) of show more game-related fun and referring to that as fun for the entire book. Since he doesn't do this immediately, even doubters who have looked at the beginning of the book find it easy to dismiss. show less

This is a cute book -- kind of reminded me of Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" or Martin Gardner's "Aha!" The title mostly refers to the first part of the book during which Koster gives a quick overview of his take on a theory of how "fun" works. The second half of the book is more of a manifesto on games as art. People deep in the world of game design might not get much out of this directly -- although it's nice to just see an important game designer's take on the subject. But this show more book would be great for folks just digging into the theory and practice of game design for the first time. It almost begs to be on the reading list in college classes about game design, interactive media, or art theory in general. show less

This book has brilliant passages convincing the reader that games are capable of more than just escapism. However, this book is also an unstructured mess. It takes you on a road that leads through all kind of allies and mountain passages so to speak, but you don't really know where he is taking you. It is a light read, so some of his escapades are forgiven. The illustrations make it even easier to digest. Another reason to read this book are the links to background information. This alone show more makes the book worthwhile. A "fun" book to read, but it would have been better if it had more structure and a clear goal. show less