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Preface
So much has changed in the game industry since I
wrote the first edition of this book more than ten
years ago. There has been an explosion in new plat-
forms of play and an emergence of exciting new
markets and genres of games. Today, it seems that
everyone plays games, everywhere. The one con-
stant I see in this world of change is the need for
innovative game designers to realize the potential
for play in all of these new platforms and places.
And so I offer this tenth anniversary edition,
with its strong focus still on learning the playcen-
tric process of design and iteration, but enhanced
with updated techniques and ideas that have sprung
from today’s industry, and filled with the perspec-
tives of new designers who are on the front lines of
facing today’s design challenges and opportunities—
designers such as Jane McGonigal, Keita Takahashi,
Robin Hunicke, Randy Smith, Michael John, Elan
Lee, Anna Anthropy, Christina Norman, and more.
This new edition includes sidebars on the emerging
opportunities in independent design and publishing
of games, on experimental game design, on mobile
games and virtual reality systems, on art games and
social games, and on techniques for tuning games
and using metrics to get the best player experience.
Back when I wrote the first version of this book,
there was a sense in the field that game design was
not something that could be taught. You either had
a “knack” for games or you didn’t. Needless to say,
I didn’t agree. Fast-forward ten years and the sense
is completely different. Now, game design programs,
such as the one that I chair at the University of
Southern California, are seen as incubators for innova-
tive ideas and people. The training that students get in
such programs is coalescing into a set of best practices
that turns out creative people who are able to work
well on teams and who have strong design skills and
an understanding of how to create interesting game
mechanics. Some of these programs have arisen in
technical schools, some in art schools, and others in a
staggering variety of disciplines that cross the humani-
ties, arts, and sciences. Game design is everywhere.
Not only is everyone learning game design, but
everyone is doing it. Today’s schoolchildren are
using construction games like Minecra or SimCity
to learn history and environmental awareness. Their
love of games is leading them to learn critical skills
like systems thinking and procedurality. They are
modding and making and playing and learning, and
the boundaries between these things are no longer
clear or important. What will the world look like in
another ten years, when the children who grew up
learning from and thinking in game systems become
adults? What games will they want to play then?
What systems will they engage with to learn more
about the world? I can hardly wait to see.
The students who studied game design with me
while I wrote the first two editions of this book have
completely stunned me with their talent and vision.
They have set new levels of aesthetic expectations for
the field as a whole and are deeply embedded in the
changes that will define the next generation of play.