Theory of Fun for Game Design Second Edition

by Raph Koster (Author)

308 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-1449363215

ISBN-10: 1449363210

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Now in full color, the 10th anniversary edition of this classic book takes you deep into the influences that underlie modern video games, and examines the elements they share with traditional games such as checkers. At the heart of his exploration, veteran game designer Raph Koster takes a close look at the concept of fun and why it’s the most vital element in any game.

Why do some games become boring quickly, while others remain fun for years? How do games serve as fundamental and powerful learning tools? Whether you’re a game developer, dedicated gamer, or curious observer, this illustrated, fully updated edition helps you understand what drives this major cultural force, and inspires you to take it further.

You’ll discover that:

Games play into our innate ability to seek patterns and solve puzzles
Most successful games are built upon the same elements
Slightly more females than males now play games
Many games still teach primitive survival skills
Fictional dressing for modern games is more developed than the conceptual elements
Truly creative designers seldom use other games for inspiration
Games are beginning to evolve beyond their prehistoric origins

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Raph Koster is a veteran game designer who has been professionally credited in almost every area of the game industry. He's been the lead designer and director of massive titles such as Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies; and he's contributed writing, art, soundtrack music, and programming to many more titles ranging from Facebook games to single-player titles for handheld consoles. He has worked as a creative executive at Sony Online and Disney Playdom, and in 2012 was honored as an Online Game Legend at the Game Developers Conference Online.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media; Second edition (December 17, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1449363210
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1449363215
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 0.55 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #118,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #28 in Game Theory (Books)
- #45 in Computer Graphics
- #45 in Computer & Video Game Design

Customer Reviews:
308 ratings

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Raph Koster

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Raph Koster is a veteran game designer who has been professionally credited in almost every area of the game industry. He’s been the lead designer and director of massive titles such as ULTIMA ONLINE and STAR WARS GALAXIES; a venture-backed entrepreneur heading his own studio; and he’s contributed design work, writing, art, soundtrack music, and programming to many more titles ranging from Facebook games to single-player games for handheld consoles.

Koster is widely recognized as one of the world’s top thinkers about game design, and is an in-demand speaker at conferences all over the world. His book A THEORY OF FUN FOR GAME DESIGN has reached its tenth anniversary as one of the undisputed classics in the games field. In 2012, he was named an Online Game Legend at the Game Developers Conference Online. Visit his blog at www.raphkoster.com.

Customer reviews

5 star		67%
4 star		14%
3 star		10%
2 star		6%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Jamie O

Mostly a Waste

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2020

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I love game design, and I had heard a lot of online recommendations about this book, so I went for it. The first thing you'll notice is that, if you open the book, every left page is text, and every right page is a cartoon or picture. Since I wasn't really here to order a graphic novel, this means 50% of the paper in this book is wasted for me. The cartoons are a kind of summary of the text on the left, so there isn't much added by them in terms of additional insights.

So let's get to the text. You're going to have to hack through paragraphs of "MEN are like THIS, and WOMEN are like THAT," or "People who play games for the story are doing it wrong." The author's key point is that people play games to master real world skills. Everything else is doing it wrong. It strikes me as someone who really does not understand the value of entertainment and of people's need for recreation and relaxation. The author spends a good amount of time talking about how he believes the brain works, or how he believes a primate-level interpretation of human socializing works. It's mostly a rotten flavour of fluff that leads one wondering when we're going to talk about game design.

The core material of this book could have been a 5 page philosophy pamphlet about how fun is a perfectly-tuned challenge. The rest of the book is filler. This book is not worth $35 USD.

23 people found this helpful

Helpful

Didn't get anything out of it

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2019

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I got this as part of a college game design program. We barely touched it. I tried reading through on my own, and I only made it half way through.

Theory of Fun is a collection of musings and ideas on game design from a time when gaming was far more niche. If you've been diving into GDC talks, game design video essays, designer blogs, game postmortems, or even board game testing groups, you basically already know or assume much of what this book could tell you. Worse, as an exploration of the relationship between games and fun, there is little evidence provided. Finally, don't approach Theory of Fun as a resource for practical advice.

Needless to say, I've already sold my copy.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Falls short of expectations

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2019

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Still reading but the absurd amount of white space and unnecessary graphics is distracting. All the odd number pages for the entire main content contain a cartoon that brings very little to the table and most of the even numbered aren’t even full pages. What should take one page is spread over 4 for no apparent purpose beyond pushing up the page count. Feels more like a repackaged person journal of musings and doodles than a usable resource.

Edit - made it halfway and gave up. This information was dated on the first publishing. If it had a prime, it’s long past.

6 people found this helpful

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D.C.

Excellent Book for Intro Courses

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2020

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This is a excellent introductory read for analyzing what exactly is “a game” and what it is that makes a game “fun.” A concept that is somewhat abstract and different to different individuals yet vital to successful game design. This is especially important for students to consider as they often get caught up on what it is that they personally enjoy or find fun and generalizing that to all gamers. Having a more holistic understanding of design will be helpful as they move from players to students to professionals.

The book presents such concepts in an easy to read and digestible manner that allows for a perfect balance of reflection on concepts that are applicable today just as much as they were 20 years ago, while not being so heavily laden with academic jargon and lengthy chapters that it takes away from the time that students can actually be working on projects and applying the concepts to design.

This also makes this book perfect to pair with outside articles and other supplemental readings. A definitive winner for any design course or anyone interested in game design.

One person found this helpful

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G. G.

Good read, but a misleading title.

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2017

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Interesting book for sure; however, I feel like it's title is a bit misleading. This book is more a study of what is a game and a re-playable game vs. what makes something fun. There is also a lot of content opining about what types of games should be made today and what games should teach us. It's all very interesting to read, but the focus on what makes a game fun vs. not fun isn't here.

16 people found this helpful

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Vitaly. A.

Disappointing

Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2020

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Although it does have (very very few) thought provoking and even funny moments, the book is very hard to follow.

Every sentence is just barely connected to the previous. The contents are incoherent almost to a point, where every chapter title can be swapped randomly with any other chapter's title, and the chapter contents will still make the same "sense".

To be humorous, this book reads like drunken ramblings of an educated man. A well educated man, it seems, but drunken ramblings nontheless.

In the 10 years later epilogue, the reader learns that the book sprang from a power point presentation, and that actually made a lot of sense.

Lastly, most of the free sample consists of the elaborate list of praises for the book, and that is a cheap trick. (I am betting that many of the praisers didn't actually read it). If the sample had included one complete chapter, I would have thought twice before buying.

4 people found this helpful

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D. Robinson

Over-hyped

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2020

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I've read several books on game design now, and they often mention this one as something that should be on any aspiring game designer's bookshelf. So, I finally ordered a copy. There really wasn't much in here that I found useful, and felt it was more of a nostalgic missive by the author than a presentation of any kind of "theory" of what makes games "fun" (well, at least, that couldn't have been presented in around 2-3 sentences). In my opinion, if you are wanting to learn about game design, there are many, many better books out there (Kobold's Guide to Board Game Design, Think Like a Game Designer, et al., even if they unfathomably mention this one as good) that will give you some actually useful tips and theories.

4 people found this helpful

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Chris

A Must Read!

Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2018

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If you want to make games of any kind, or want to learn to get the most out of the games you play, then you must read this book!
I gave it 4 stars because the author can be a little redundant and belabors some points a little too long... but MINOR criticism for a great read!

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Diggy

Stimulating and quirky

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 2, 2021

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I really enjoyed this. It prompted me to have a lot of thoughts about how modern work could learn from computer games.

philip t.

Great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2021

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Interesting and heartfelt approach to talking about game design. More abut the why then the how. A must read for any budding designer.

Sacha

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 13, 2016

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Good book. Useful for what I'm doing.

Gary Williams

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 20, 2017

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Present for my son

Bluespot Knee Clinic

Must read for game developers

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 29, 2017

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Mainly fun to read. Informative, enlightening and an easy read by and large.

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Theory of Fun for Game Design Second Edition

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