Table of Contents Table of Contents Table of Contents Rules of Play - Game Design Fundamentals.....................................................................................................1 Foreword..............................................................................................................................................................1 Preface..................................................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: What Is This Book About?............................................................................................................1 Overview.................................................................................................................................................1 Establishing a Critical Discourse............................................................................................................2 Ways of Looking.....................................................................................................................................3 Game Design Schemas...........................................................................................................................4 Game Design Fundamentals...................................................................................................................5 Further Readings.....................................................................................................................................6 Further Reading......................................................................................................................................6 Chapter 2: The Design Process.........................................................................................................................1 Iterative Design.......................................................................................................................................1 Commissions...........................................................................................................................................2 Game Design Exercises..........................................................................................................................3 Creation............................................................................................................................................4 Modification.....................................................................................................................................5 Analysis............................................................................................................................................7 Further Reading......................................................................................................................................8 The Design and Testing of the Board Game- Lord of the Rings............................................................9 Design Process........................................................................................................................................9 Scripted Game System..........................................................................................................................10 Playtesting.............................................................................................................................................11 More Changes.......................................................................................................................................12 The Road Goes Ever On.......................................................................................................................13 Unit 1: Core Concepts.......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter List..............................................................................................................................................1 How does play happen?...........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 3: Meaningful Play..............................................................................................................................1 Overview.................................................................................................................................................1 Introducing Meaningful Play..................................................................................................................1 Meaning and Play...................................................................................................................................2 Two Kinds of Meaningful Play...............................................................................................................3 Discernable.......................................................................................................................................4 Integrated..........................................................................................................................................5 Summary.................................................................................................................................................6 Chapter 4: Design..............................................................................................................................................1 Introducing Design..................................................................................................................................1 Some Definitions of Design....................................................................................................................2 Design and Meaning...............................................................................................................................4 Semiotics: A Brief Overview..................................................................................................................4 Four Semiotic Concepts..........................................................................................................................5 A Sign Represents Something Other Than Itself....................................................................................6 Signs Are Interpreted..............................................................................................................................7 Meaning Results When a Sign Is Interpreted.........................................................................................7 i Table of Contents Table of Contents Chapter 4: Design Context Shapes Interpretation.................................................................................................................8 Summary...............................................................................................................................................10 Chapter 5: Systems............................................................................................................................................1 Introducing Systems...............................................................................................................................1 The Elements of a System.......................................................................................................................2 Framing Systems.....................................................................................................................................4 Open and Closed Systems.......................................................................................................................5 Summary.................................................................................................................................................6 Chapter 6: Interactivity.....................................................................................................................................1 Introducing Interactivity.........................................................................................................................1 Defining Interactivity..............................................................................................................................1 A Multivalent Model of Interactivity......................................................................................................3 But Is it "Designed" Interaction?............................................................................................................4 Interaction and Choice............................................................................................................................5 Choice Molecules....................................................................................................................................7 Anatomy of a Choice..............................................................................................................................8 Space of Possibility...............................................................................................................................10 Further Reading....................................................................................................................................12 Summary...............................................................................................................................................13