This managed to pass me by when it first appeared but Andreas Zecher made a series of Flash Games called Understanding Games which try to explain the fundamentals of Game Design via Game Play. It is to Games as Understanding Comics is to Comics.
The games clearly take alot from Raph’s Theory of Fun and is a cool grounding for anybody unfamiliar with the medium (and could probably stand to re-iterate the basic principles veteran games designers might forget in the white hot forges of crunch).
For a fun Friday morning exercise try and identify some Design Principles he’s used but not explained. That’ll be that unconscious mind at work again I suspect.
Similar Posts:
- Critical Analysis of Game Design
- Level Design – Further Reading
- UDK: More!
- Gut Feelings: A Review
- 7 Ways to Make Your AI Smarter
2 Comments
Hey,
Great Idea of teaching a game design tutorials.
I have found a great peer reviewed journal article based on understanding games titled “A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research”
In the above Article i have read numerous points that stick out in the process of video game design. Notes on MDA or Mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics and how it is all linked in together.
Definitely a great read for all who are interested in game design or consumerism in gaming!
The article is here: http://www.aaai.org/Papers/Workshops/2004/WS-04-04/WS04-04-001.pdf