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The Art of Computer Game Design

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As written in the early eighties, this book is one of the pioneer works seriously about video game. It talks about such topics as what is a game, why people play games, and how to design a game. The author's rich and plentiful experience in game design is undeniable, but the arguments in the book are somewhat restricted only to his own personal opinions. To a certain extent, there is no ground, as backed up from careful research, to justify these claims. Either, the author has not been able to connect his viewpoints to the works of other people. Whether other designers have similar beliefs, thus supporting his arguments? Even though similar works on game design may hardly be found at the time, relating to the experiences transferable from other disciplines is possible. Despite this, as a whole, the author does throw some light on the area, which is enough to make this book well worth reading.

Ever since I played Chris Crawford's "Balance of the Planet" I have been a fan of his. In this book he describes in detail what goes into the game design including many examples from his own experience. The biggest problems with this book are that it is some what dated, and I wish it was thicker. Richard W. Smith