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This is a collection of essays (scripts?) from the GameTek segment of the Dice Tower Podcast. Engelstein presents short bits on the math, psychology, and related issues, with a particular focus on game design. The writing is engaging and breezy and makes for a fun and sometimes thought provoking book.
Two downsides: it only lightly touches on the surface of the topics, and has typographical issues.
On the first, well, for example, the first chapter covers the game theory behind Rock-Paper-Scissors, including the Nash Equilibrium strategy for the standard game (1/3 rock, 1/3 paper, 1/3 scissors, randomly) and a game that pays off twice as much for scissors (1/2 rock, 1/4 paper, 1/4 scissors, randomly). But it doesn't include how to calculate the Nash Equilibrium. The math isn't hard, and would have improved the chapter a great deal.
Second, the book is printed in somewhat tight lines, with very little margins on any side. Also, game names (and other emphasized text) are jarringly underlined. It looks like it was laid out by a moderately skilled amateur in MS Word.
The book does get points for the excellent bibliography.
- Hardcover: 330 pages
- Publisher: Ludology (November 9, 2017)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1543911846
- ISBN-13: 978-1543911848
- Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Customer Reviews: 31 customer reviews
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#464,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7690 in Puzzles & Games
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