Rules of Play

I've been slowly working my way through Rules of Play, Eric Zimmerman and Katie Salen's massive textbook on game design (they get extra credit, in my book, for trying to cover semiotics in two pages). The MIT Press website says it offers a "unified model" for anyone who wants to talk about games. I'm not sure how I feel about "unified models," in general, but it is true that Rules of Play is...magisterial. And stolid. And very useful reading for anyone who wants to talk seriously about games.

The space of possibility springs forth out of the rules and structures created by the game designer. The space of possibility is the field of play where your players will explore and cavort, compete and cooperate...You can never directly craft the possible space of your game. You can only indirectly construct the space of possibility. Game design is an act of faith - in your rules, in your players, in your game itself. Will your game create meaningful play? You can never know for sure. (67)

Although my actual favorite moment is when they remind game designers that games are best created by playing them, and that designers should start playing some kind of prototype 20% of the way through the development process. Which means that for a 2-week game design assignment, they point out, designers should have some kind of playable prototype by day 2.