Tynan Sylvester

This excellent book looks at what makes the experience of playing games feel worthwhile and offers practical advice for achieving the effect.

Many of Sylvester's insights evoke a feeling of 'ah, of course' - he articulates things you may have instinctively noticed about games you play, giving concepts names and explanations that allow you to apply them elsewhere.

Sylvester's book is primarily concerned with the mechanics of how a game works rather than its narrative - although it does spend time talking about how the narrative fits in. He frames the mechanics of the game as the things which create the experience - those magic moments made of so many elements, crafted from so many player choices and their results, that no other medium can mimic them. This experience is a narrative of its own, and one with substantial emotional impact.

Sylvester effectively uses examples from games as varied as chess, Halo, Bioshock, and a game of catch in the backyard. The sheer variety is helpful in understanding the underlying experience that makes games FUN, and the examples are well-articulated and explained clearly enough that you don't need to have actually played the game to learn their lessons.

I highly recommend this book for anyone thinking about designing a game - whether it be a board game, a session of DND, or a video game. The 'mechanics' discussed are applicable to all of them, and it's one of the few books where I found myself reaching for a pad of paper to take notes as I read, or sharing snippets with friends.… (mehr)