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 enlarge | Author: Raph Koster
Publisher: Paraglyph
Category: Book
Buy New: $99.99
New (1) Used (1) from $45.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 143557
Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 1932111972
Dewey Decimal Number: 793
EAN: 9781932111972
ASIN: 1932111972
Publication Date: November 6, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new, hard to find title, ships in 2 to 24 hours (inventory#S31)
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| Customer Reviews:
 no useful tips August 18, 2007
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Good games teach something so I wondered if knowing the "Theory of Fun" would help me teach. Could I convert some science data base into a game? Unfortunately I picked up no tips useful to me. The book describes fun, philosophizes about fun, has platitudes and personal opinions. Some reviews raised my expectations unrealistically.
 Enjoyable and thought-provocing, but brief December 28, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I had played some of the games that Raph Koster had woked on, so this book caught my eye. It is kind of an unusual book. It certainly in no way resembles a "classroom text" sort of book on game making or game design. Instead it is more of a somewhat rambling discussion of "fun" with regards to computer and video games.
The author talks a lot about things like trying to nail down what this "fun" sensation actually is, and why we find certain things either fun and other things not so fun. He breaks down what sorts of attributes a game should have in order for it to at least have a chance of being found fun. He also touches on some related topics briefly like gender and age differences, and the sustainability of games. Then there is a small discussion about ethics and some random ideas about the future of gaming.
The book is definitely brief, weighing in at underr 250 pages. The pages have fairly large print and every other page is filled with a full-page illustration. But at this price, it is still a fairly good value. The illustrations are generally quite good and add a lot to the enjoyment of reading this book.
I really enjoyed this book. It got me thinking about my gaming projects in a bit of a different way, and I've now got a bunch of new ideas floating around inside my head that hopefully will find there way into some interesting, and yes, "fun", games. I definitely recommend this book for game developers that strive to do more than make rehashes of yesterdays games.
 Very attractive cover, what a pity about the rest November 16, 2006
4 out of 16 found this review helpful
It's a somewhat random collection of thoughts about why it's ok to be a game designer with half of the pages containing some kind of drawing or cartoon. It says very little of substance and doesn't constitute a theory in the technical sense of the word. There's very little to say for this, except that it wasn't all that expensive and the cover looks good.
Solid read. September 12, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Disagree with him on some points, but it's an interesting read. Note, this book is not really about how to make games you create fun, so much as it is a rambling discourse about the nature of fun itself.
Koster's Pitch for Gaming Theory July 14, 2006
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Koster's argument for serious critical approach to gaming is taut and well-thought. He acknowledges gaming to be "fun," while at the same time clearly states why games aren't elevated to artistic status in culture, despite their status in the entertainment marketplace - more economically lucrative than cinema. Until gaming attains the ability to create play that reflects the human condition, like cinema, it will not be classified or regarded as artisitic expression. If I had one criticism of the book, it is a lack of commentary on the economics of the gaming industry, but alas, Koster is a game developer, not a publisher, so this omission is understandable and does not take away from the book's value. I recommend this book for anyone desiring a short theoretical overview of gaming, and historical context. It's laconic, well-written, and offers nice illustrations done by Koster himself.
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