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(6 reviews)
Author: Visit Amazon's Greg Costikyan Page
ISBN : 0262018969
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Review
"Once again, Greg Costikyan has given us an original and insightful angle on game design. In a world inundated with overwrought megabytes about fun, graphics, and immersion, Costikyan shows that an analysis of the role of uncertainty in games sheds important light on the process of game design. This book should be required reading for game designers." -- Chris Crawford, former head of Atari's Games Research Group, and founder of the Game Developers Conference
"Until now, uncertainty has been a shadowy concept in the world of game design; hard to put a finger on, hard to pin down. In this incisive text, rich with examples, Greg Costikyan captures uncertainty, dissects it, analyzes it, then miraculously brings it back to life and sets it free, all in the name of showing us what uncertainty truly is: the secret force that makes us love games." -- Jesse Schell, Carnegie Mellon University; CEO, Schell Games
"Greg Costikyan is a true veteran of the game industry. His career spans the earliest online videogames, tabletop role-playing games and wargames, and recent Facebook and casual hits. Uncertainty in Games puts Costikyan's considerable experience and pointed intellect to good use. The result is some of the most insightful, accessible, and witty writing about games in recent memory. There is one thing I have no uncertainty about: my game design students will be reading Uncertainty in Games." -- Eric Zimmerman, independent game designer & founding faculty, NYU Game Center
" Uncertainty in Games is sure to provide readers of all stripes many satisfying 'Aha!' moments. For gamers, those might take the form of ' That's why I got hooked on Game X.' For developers, there's a wealth of specific advice for providing deeper, more surprising experiences. Academics will discover new tools of critical analysis rooted in the unique perspective of a hands-on game designer. Even publishers will find insights into how better to retain players and monetize them more effectively. In this brief, easy read, Costikyan truly does offer something for everyone." -- Warren Spector, award-winning veteran game developer
About the Author
Greg Costikyan, an award-winning designer of board, tabletop, roleplaying, computer, online, mobile, and social games, is Senior Designer at Disney Playdom's Dream Castle Studio. He is the author of four science fiction/fantasy novels.
Books with free ebook downloads available Free Download Uncertainty in Games
- Series: Playful Thinking series
- Hardcover: 152 pages
- Publisher: The MIT Press (March 8, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0262018969
- ISBN-13: 978-0262018968
- Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Free Download Uncertainty in Games
This book had some interesting analysis of games, particularly vintage video games & new social games like CityVille. But overall it was a bit disappointing to me. It wasn't what I thought it was about, it wasn't what it *said* it was about, and the thesis was thin and uneven.
This book is part of a series (by MIT) on playful themes. The author's thesis is that games are a fictive & nonthreatening way to "play" with uncertainty, and vicariously experience some control over uncertainty even though uncertainty is generally terrifying to most of us (in life).
I find this thesis absolutely fascinating. We discover in Chpt 3 that the thesis was extracted from quotes by sociologist Roger Caillois. But the thesis is proposed, then dropped. The book does not argue for the thesis at all. It is merely an idea thrown out there, a belief really, with nearly zero discussion to follow.
As we read on, we discover the entire book is like that. It's more a collection of musings than anything else. The author definitely poses interesting questions, but these questions are definitely better answered by somebody else (a psychologist or philosophers perhaps?). It also raises the question, how did this book sneak past the editorial board at MIT?
In chapters 2-3, the author argues that we have innate impulses to play. I agree, but again, I would have liked to see an argument or some research here. Instead, it just feels like a complete shift in thesis. Remember the initial thesis - that game-play is a psychological tool to cope with the terror of uncertainty. Now the author is comparing us to animals, stating that playfulness and fun are apparently innate to mammals.
Here (chpts 2-3), the author goes out on a limb, on topics completely outside his purview.