Theory of Fun for Game Design

Ranked #2 in Game Development, Ranked #2 in Game Designsee more rankings.

Now in full color, the 10th anniversary edition of this classic book packs more insight into what it means to design games for fun. Theory of Fun for Game Design challenges and inspires game designers as well as game enthusiasts looking for products and experiences that are truly fun and entertaining.

The book discusses the impact of designing in a multidimensional landscape, where computer science, environmental design, and storytelling all play a role in creating an interactive game design. For the professional game developer to the interested young gamer, this updated...
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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of Theory of Fun for Game Design from the world's leading experts.

Tom Chatfield Today we are seeing a new form of it, but in order to really understand it properly, we need to begin with this really deep evolutionary hold that games have on us. (Source)

Bret Victor Recommends this book

Jesper Bylund One of the most important books I’ve ever read is A Theory of Fun by Raph Koster. It creatively describes how “fun” is created and what it is. Which might sound trivial, but as a designer and developer of tools, this is by far the most important design principle I’ve discovered. Basically, why would you do anything if it wasn’t fun? Thankfully, this book describes how to make anything fun. (Source)


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