Rules of play : game design fundamentals

Foreword Frank Lantz ix Preface xiii 1 About This Book 1 2 The Design Process 11 Commissioned Essay Reiner Knizia 22 UNIT 1: Core Concepts 28 3 Meaningful Play 30 4 Design 38 5 Systems 48 6 Interactivity 56 7 Defining Games 70 8 Defining Digital Games 84 9 The Magic Circle 92 10 The Primary Schemas: RULES, PLAY, CULTURE 100 Commissioned Game Richard Garfield 106 UNIT 2: Rules 116 11 Defining Rules 118 12 Rules on Three Levels 126 13 The Rules of Digital Games 140 14 Games as Emergent Systems 150 15 Games as Systems of Uncertainty 172 16 Games as Information Theory Systems 190 17 Games as Systems of Information 202 18 Games as Cybernetic Systems 212 19 Games as Game Theory Systems 230 20 Games as Systems of Conflict 248 21 Breaking the Rules 266 Commissioned Game Frank Lantz 286 UNIT 3: PLAY 298 22 Defining Play 300 23 Games as the Play of Experience 312 24 Games as the Play of Pleasure 328 25 Games as the Play of Meaning 362 26 Games as Narrative Play 376 27 Games as the Play of Simulation 420 28 Games as Social Play 460 Commissioned Game Kira Snyder 490 UNIT 4: CULTURE 502 29 Defining Culture 504 30 Games as Cultural Rhetoric 514 31 Games as Open Culture 536 32 Games as Cultural Resistance 556 33 Games as Cultural Environment 570 Commissioned Game James Ernest 588 Additional Reading and Resources 602 Conclusion 604 Bibliography 608 List of Games Cited 620 Index 638