Salen K., Zimmerman S. Rules of Play - Game Design Fundamentals

The MIT Press Cambridge, 2004. — 694 p.
This book is about games, all kinds of games: paper-based strategy games and first person shooters, classical board games and glitzy gambling games; math puzzles and professional sports; austere text adventures and giggly teenage party games. This book links these diverse play activities within a common framework - a framework based in game design.
This book is about game design, not game development. It is not a "how to" book, offering tips and tricks for making successful digital games. It is not a book about digital game programming or choosing development tools; it is not about writing design documents or generating game ideas. And it is definitely not about development team dynamics or about funding, marketing, and distributing games. As a book on game design it is not a general introduction to games, a history of games, or a journalistic account of the people and circumstances that create games.
Bridging the theoretical and practical aspects of making games, we look closely at games as designed systems, discovering patterns within their complexity that bring the challenges of game design into full view. As we explore game design as a design practice, we outline not only the concepts behind the creation of meaningful play (a core idea of this book), but also concrete methods for putting these concepts to use in your games. Written with the interests and needs of practicing designers, students, and educators in mind, our approach comes from our own experience of designing games, playing games, and teaching game design.Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1: What Is This Book About?
Overview
Establishing a Critical Discourse
Ways of Looking
Game Design Schemas
Game Design Fundamentals
Further Readings
Further Reading
Chapter 2: The Design Process
Iterative Design
Commissions
Game Design Exercises
Creation
Modification
Analysis
Further Reading
The Design and Testing of the Board Game- Lord of the Rings
Design Process
Scripted Game System
Playtesting
More Changes
The Road Goes Ever On
Unit 1: Core Concepts
Chapter List
How does play happen?
Chapter 3: Meaningful Play
Overview
Introducing Meaningful Play
Meaning and Play
Two Kinds of Meaningful Play
Discernable
IntegratedChapter 4: Design
Introducing Design
Some Definitions of Design
Design and Meaning
Semiotics: A Brief Overview
Four Semiotic Concepts
A Sign Represents Something Other Than Itself
Signs Are Interpreted
Meaning Results When a Sign Is Interpreted
Context Shapes InterpretationChapter 5: Systems
Introducing Systems
The Elements of a System
Framing Systems
Open and Closed SystemsChapter 6: Interactivity
Introducing Interactivity
Defining Interactivity
A Multivalent Model of Interactivity
But Is it "Designed" Interaction?
Interaction and Choice
Choice Molecules
Anatomy of a Choice
Space of Possibility
Further ReadingChapter 7: Defining Games
Overview
Play and Game
Comparing Definitions
Definition 1: David Parlett
Definition 2: Clark C. Abt
Definition 3: Johann Huizinga
Definition 4: Roger Caillois
Definition 5: Bernard Suits
Definition 6: Chris Crawford
Definition 7: Greg Costikyan
Definition 8: Elliot Avedon and Brian Sutton-Smith
A Comparison
Our Definition
The Puzzle of Puzzles
Role-Playing Games
Further ReadingChapter 8: Defining Digital Games
Overview
The Computer Is Not a Computer
What Can It Do?
IntegrationChapter 9: The Magic Circle
Overview
Boundaries
Enter In
Temporary Worlds
The Lusory Attitude
Further ReadingChapter 10: The Primary Schemas
A Conceptual Framework
What Is a Schema?
RULES: Formal Schemas
PLAY: Experiential Schemas
CULTURE: Contextual SchemasCommissioned Game 1 — Richard Garfield
Rules
Scoring
Design Notes
Sibling Rivalry
Unit 2: Rules
Chapter List
Chapter 11: Defining Rules
Overview
A Deck of Cards
Other Kinds of Rules
Qualities of Rules
Rules in ContextChapter 12: Rules on Three Levels
Overview
Tic-Tac-What?
Under the Hood
Being a Good Sport
Three Kinds of Rules
Operational Rules
Constituative Rules
Implicit Rules
The Rules of Chutes and Ladders
Chutes and Ladders: Operational Rules
Chutes and Ladders: Constituative Rules
Chutes and Ladders: Implicit Rules
The Identity of a Game
Specificity of Rules
Designing Elegant Rules
Further ReadingRules as a Whole
So What Are the Rules?
The Rules of Tetris
Rules and Not Rules
Wheels Within Wheels
Constituative
Operational
Implicit
Why Rules?Chapter 14: Games as Emergent Systems
Introducing Emergent Systems
Complexity
Messengers and Buildings
Simple Complexity
What Complexity Is Not
Four Kinds of Systems
Two Horrible Games
Emergence
Parts and the Whole
Object Interactions
Life, the Game
Bottom-Up Behaviors
Emergence in Games
Designing Surprise
Engine Tuning
Second-Order Design
Further ReadingChapter 15: Games as Systems of Uncertainty
Overview
Introducing Uncertainty
Certainty, Uncertainty, and Risk
The Feeling of Randomness
Probability in Games
Dice Probability
Chance and Game Play
Case Study One: Thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
Case Study Two: Pig
Pig
Breakdowns in Uncertainty
Breakdown 1: Computer Randomness
Breakdown 2: Strategizing Chance
Breakdown 3: Probability Fallacies
Meaningful Chance
Further ReadingIntroducing "Information"
Information Theory
Probability and Guesswork
Noise in the Channel
Redundancy in the System
Balancing Act
Further ReadingChapter 17: Games as Systems of Information
Introducing a Different Kind of Information
Perfect and Imperfect Information
Enchanted Information
Each turn, Enchanted
Hiding and Revealing SystemsChapter 18: Games as Cybernetic Systems
Introducing Cybernetic Systems
Elements of a Cybernetic System
Feedback Systems in Games
Positive and Negative Basketball
Racing Loops
Positive Feedback in a Game
Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment
A Simple Die Roll
Putting Feedback to Use
Afterword: Don't Forget the Participant
Further ReadingChapter 19: Games as Game Theory Systems
Introducing Game Theory?
Decision Trees
Strategies in Game Theory
Game Theory Games
Cake Division
Playing for Pennies
The Prisoner's Dilemma
Game Theory and Game Design
Further ReadingChapter 20: Games as Systems of Conflict
Introducing Conflict
Conflict Case Studies
Centipede
Joust
Gauntlet
Competition and Cooperation
New Games
The Goal of a Game
The Level Playing Field of Conflict
Pig Redux
Further ReadingChapter 21: Breaking the Rules
Introducing Rule-Breaking
Kinds of Rule-Breaking
Player Types
Standard Players
Dedicated Players
Unsportsmanlike Players
Degenerate Strategies
Degenerate Strategy Ecosystems
Cheats and Spoil-Sports
Five Player Types Compared
Sanctioned Violations: Professional Sports
Sanctioned Cheating: Illuminati
Hacks, Cheats, and Mods: Digital Rule-Breaking
Easter Eggs
Cheat Codes
Game Guides and Walkthroughs
Workarounds
True Cheating
Hacks
Spoil-Sport Hacking
Rule-Breaking as a Game Design Practice
Further ReadingCommissioned Game 2 — Ironclad
A game for 2 players
Rules
Playing Ironclad: The Spectacle of Mechanical Destruction
Playing Ironclad: The Technique of Scholarly Discourse
Design Notes
Ironclad
Unit 3: Play
Chapter List
Chapter 22: Defining Play
Introducing Play
What Is Play?
A General Definition of Play
Play is free movement within a more rigid structure
Transformative Play
Being Playful
Ludic Activities
Game PlayChapter 23: Games as the Play of Experience
Introducing Experience
Qualities of Experience
Designing Interactive Experiences
The Core Mechanic
Core Mechanics in Context
Tag
Verbal Tennis
LOOP
Breaking Out of Breakout
Variations on a Core Mechanic
Timed Play
Breakthru
Steering, Catching, and Invisible Bricks
Breaking Out
Repetitive Play
Putting It All Together
Further ReadingChapter 24: Games as the Play of Pleasure
Introducing the Play of Pleasure
Rule-Bound
Autotelic Play
Enter. Play. Stay
Typologies of Pleasure
Game Flow
Sculpting Desire
Patterns of Pleasure
The Role of the Goal
Goals Within Goals
Conditioned Pleasure
Rewards and Schedules
Boredom and Anxiety: Flow Redux
Anxiety and Boredom on the High Seas
Meaningful Pleasure
Against "Addiction"
Further ReadingChapter 25: Games as the Play of Meaning
Introducing the Play of Meaning
Two Kinds of Representation
Systems of Meaning
System and Context
Emergent Representations
The Context of Meaning
Down the Rabbit Hole
In the Queen's Court
Framing Play
Metacommunication and Play
Captured by the Game
Further ReadingChapter 26: Games as Narrative Play
Overview
Introducing Narrative Play
Narrative Tensions
A Framework for "Narrative"
Thunderstorm
Two Structures for Narrative Play
Narrative Goals
Confict
Uncertainty
Core Mechanics
Narrative Space
Digital Game Spaces
Spaces of Adventure
Narrative Descriptors
Worlds and Stories
Crafting Game Narratives
Games as Narrative Systems
Cutscenes
Retelling Game Stories
The Replay
Recams
Games Within Games
Further ReadingChapter 27: Games as the Play of Simulation
Introducing Simulation
Defining "Simulation"
Game and Non-Game Simulations
Meaningful Play and Simulation
Procedural Representation
Represented Conflict
Procedural Characters
Designing Simulations
Learning from Wargames
The Field of Battle
Simulation in Context
A Balanced Approach
The Value of Reality
Framing the Simulation
The Immersive Fallacy
Metacommunicative
Remediating Games
The Character of Character
Hacking the Holodeck
Further ReadingChapter 28: Games as Social Play
Introducing Social Play
Social Relations
Player Roles
Three Emergent Social Games
Little Max
Mafia
Stand Up
Bounded Communities
Contract for Artifice
Knowing the Rules
Transformative Social Play
Ideal and Real Foursquare
When Players Won't Be "Nice"
Forbidden Play
Metagame: the Larger Social Context
A Metagame Model
Designing the Metagame
The Limits of Social Play
Further ReadingCommissioned Game 3 — Sneak
A game for 3 or more playersRules
Materials
Setting up
Assigning Camps
Turns
Drawing Challenges
Purchasing Information
Next matches
During the Game
Winning
Design Diary
Sneak
Initial Notes
Cloak and Dagger :Rules for Playtest 1
Notes from Playtest 1
Sneak :Rules for Playtest 2
Notes from Playtest 2
Notes from Playtest 3
Notes from Eric and Katie's playtesting
Unit 4: Culture
Chapter 29: Defining Culture
Overview
Introducing Culture
Culture: A Framework
Cultural Structures: A List
Cultural Meanings: A Few Examples
Cultural Texts: Trafficking in Signs
Redefinition: Locating DesignChapter 30: Games as Cultural Rhetoric
Introducing Cultural Rhetoric
What is Rhetoric?
Seven Rhetorics of Play
Two Examples
The Landlord's Game
Vampire: The Masquerade
Rhetorics of Gender
Boy Games
Flipping the Gender Bit
Transforming Spaces
Battling Toys
Toys: A social game for two players
Further ReadingChapter 31: Games as Open Culture
Introducing Open Culture
Inventing Jenny
Player-as-Producer
Meaningful Production
Open Source Games
Game Systems
Escape from the Dungeon
Telefragging Monster Movies
Circle Back
Further ReadingChapter 32: Games as Cultural Resistance
Overview
Introducing Cultural Resistance
DIY Gaming
Resistant Strategies
Strategies of Alteration
SOD
Sailor Moon Wad
SimCopter Hack
Strategies of Juxtaposition
Frag Queens
Blacklash
Los Disneys
Strategies of Reinvention
Universal Square
Counter-Strike
Additional Lines of Resistance
Friction on the Playground
Resist!
Further ReadingChapter 33: Games as Cultural Environment
Raise the Red Flag
Introducing Cultural Environment
Back to Basics
Shall We Play a Game?
Web-based
Fictional game content disguised as reality
Decentralized content
Game events occurred outside the web
Episodic content
Distributed problem-solving
Interaction between authors and players
Line blurred between players and game designers
The Invisible Playground
Public Spaces
Real-World Interaction
Emergent Storytelling
Meta-Narratives
Current Events
Ideological Environment
Lived Conflict
Interventions Shaking It Up
Game Design Fundamentals
The Artificial Question
Final Framings
Further ReadingCommissioned Game 4 — Caribbean Star
Overview
Rules
Design Notes
Caribbean Star
Racing Games vs.Fighting Games
First Rules Draft
Playtest Notes
Final Revisions: Friday June 22, 2001
ADDITIONAL READING AND RESOURCES