Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and thought-provoking, November 3, 2004
I have been making video games for about 7 years and have reached the top technical position I can at my company. So I wanted to learn some more about game design.
I bought 3 books on game design. The first, I discarded after 5 minutes of browsing as full of common sense and no real meat. (Be warned - there are lots of books on game design like that out there.)
Here's really where I think this book is different. I devoured this book in one siting. It's interesting and thought provoking, and I honestly came away feeling like I had some more insight into making games.
High points:
* Some interesting theories (or perhaps opinions masquerading as theories, but I mostly liked them all) about what is at the heart of a good game. Why do people "play?" Why is interactivity so important
* Lots of examples of games he felt had good design, and some analysis of what made them good.
* A list of common mistakes people make when trying to make games.
* A list of game ideas! He has a list of game ideas he's had that he's never turned into games.
* Plenty of war stories about how some of his games came into being, including the political battles and the evolution of ideas.
* PLENTY of strong opinions. This guy is opinionated. He either likes it or he hates it. I didn't agree with everything he said, but I enjoyed the way in which he pursued his arguments.
* An eye-opener as to just how narrow our industry really is, versus the range of games that we could be making. This, to me, was the most inspiring. He basically says that we've dug a hole for ourselves, and will have a hard time climbing out of it and becoming a mass-market medium. He says that video games we make are primarily making "candy" or "cartoons" to use food or television analgies. But where's the sandwiches, vegetables, salads, the olives, or the sitcoms, mysteries, dramas, or chick-flicks that would be consumed by a more mature and diverse audience? I think a light bulb came on for me and I realized how we are all fighting to see who can get the most piece of this little tiny pie, when there are so many other pies.
He's a bit bitter with the industry, and angry with the path it has taken - he basically says that nothing new has ben done in video games in the past 10 years, which consist of an endless stream of doom-wanna-bes. As I'm starting to become a more veteran person and some of the newness has worn off and I'm seeking new challenges, I can see how this happened to him.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The one negative about this book, is that he is coming from a time when everything was new and games were a lot simpler. To make a hit game, you took one key idea and ran with it - and the entire game was SO focused on that one idea. I mean it really was very simplistic. But that's where the rubber really hits the road, isn't it? Let's ignore graphics, sound, etc. The average game today is FAR more complicated than those simple games of 10 years ago. Even games like SimCity, Civilization, the Sims, Half Life, or GTA3 - which take a new idea and run with it - they are really deep and involved games. Almost all of his examples are 5 or 10 years old - which sort of makes it hard to apply to today's market. This is where I think his book leaves you hanging. Of course, the other design books I've read all suffer from this flaw of putting a bit too much stock in old games and forgetting that with modern games, the devil really is in the details. Buy this book for inspiration, not for practical advice.
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38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
51% Opinions, 30% Fluff, 19% Insight But a Must Read, December 13, 2003
Anybody who is familiar with Chris Crawford won't be surprised to know that his latest book on game design is littered with opinions! Also they wouldn't be surprised to know that there are some real gems of insight buried within the morasses of fluff and opinion. This book is a `MUST READ" for that 19% of insight.His rants, side tracks and "old fart stories" are always amusing, I am sure some people will take offense and unfortunately they probably wouldn't get past the first few chapters and hence miss out some great thoughts on game design. This should not be your only book on game design in your library, but it should definitely be there. Chris's thoughts on creativity, his list of "games I would like to write" and analysis of his games are worth the entry price alone. Overlook the ego, be amused by rants and stories, ignore the author's over use of a thesaurus to sound smart but most definitely take note of his insights. Only 4 stars, but no books with this much bias can truly get 5.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read for Serious People Interested in Games, September 14, 2005
I used to think that this book had some sort of flaw in its conception. It's written by one of the greatest game designers of all time, who is also the number one computer game theorist in the world, yet it neither teaches the craft of game design nor does it contain any great theoretical breakthroughs. There are important concepts in here, as well as many useful points, but it really doesn't seem to live up to Crawford's reputation.
But I was wrong. This book is perfect for what it sets out to do. It is designed as a complex, long-winded, utterly convincing argument aimed at the games industry, with the sole purpose of opening the reader's eyes to the sad truth - the computer games industry is in a dire situation from an artistic and creative perspective, and it's only getting worse.
Among other things, Crawford exorcises many of the buzzwords that haunt the dialogue of game design, presenting principles that are so much cleaner and more accurate than we've come to expect from game design books. He contends that "fun" is not a sufficient design goal for a game, indeed, that it's hardly a design goal at all, and presents what served as his goals on his many game projects. He gives examples of several games he'd like to make, each of which is completely different from anything ever seen on the market, although they are all great ideas, and this just serves to prove how narrow the creative emphasis of the games industry is.
This book is the painful look in the mirror that the games industry needs so badly. It lucidly explains what went wrong and why, and what needs to be done differently. If you are a serious person interested in games, then this is an excellent book to learn why today's games are less and less worthy of your attention. If you are actually a game developer, this book will show you the path to a creative freedom and artistic possibilities beyond common imagining, if you're honest and can take the criticism. Either way, Crawford's wit and insight will entertain and enlighten you, as will his stories of the early days of game design.
Highly recommended!
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