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Chris Crawford on Game Design Review by Jonathan Beyrak Lev
A Must Read for Serious People Interested in Games
I used to think that this book had some sort of flaw in its conception. It's written by one of the greatest game designers of all time, who is also the number one computer game theorist in the world, yet it neither teaches the craft of game design nor does it contain any great theoretical breakthroughs. There are important concepts in here, as well as many useful points, but it really doesn't seem to live up to Crawford's reputation.
But I was wrong. This book is perfect for what it sets out to do. It is designed as a complex, long-winded, utterly convincing argument aimed at the games industry, with the sole purpose of opening the reader's eyes to the sad truth - the computer games industry is in a dire situation from an artistic and creative perspective, and it's only getting worse.
Among other things, Crawford exorcises many of the buzzwords that haunt the dialogue of game design, presenting principles that are so much cleaner and more accurate than we've come to expect from game design books. He contends that "fun" is not a sufficient design goal for a game, indeed, that it's hardly a design goal at all, and presents what served as his goals on his many game projects. He gives examples of several games he'd like to make, each of which is completely different from anything ever seen on the market, although they are all great ideas, and this just serves to prove how narrow the creative emphasis of the games industry is.
This book is the painful look in the mirror that the games industry needs so badly. It lucidly explains what went wrong and why, and what needs to be done differently. If you are a serious person interested in games, then this is an excellent book to learn why today's games are less and less worthy of your attention. If you are actually a game developer, this book will show you the path to a creative freedom and artistic possibilities beyond common imagining, if you're honest and can take the criticism. Either way, Crawford's wit and insight will entertain and enlighten you, as will his stories of the early days of game design.
Highly recommended!