Casual Game Design: Designing Play for the Gamer in ALL of Us [Anglais] [Broché]

I spent several years doing game design and development work for a game that was very much targeted at the casual market, so I had a lot of opportunity to observe the way the design process played out and how different approaches were received by the players. The subject has remained an interest of mine, and so when I was offered the opportunity to read a review copy of this book I was quick to accept it.

The main negative here should be pointed out early - most of the people who are likely to think they might want to read this book will find that it doesn't suit them. This isn't one of those super casual "Learn to Design Games in 3 days!" books. Rather it encourages a level of deep thought and consideration to the way that casual games work - both in the larger sense, and how this relates to specific games that are well known. My understanding of most of the people who want to design games is that they're just not interested in thinking this hard about it.

Really, this book is an excellent textbook, whether for a class or to study on your own. The games he uses as examples are a great opportunity to get a copy and play for yourself for a while to see how the game makes you feel, and what aspects draw you in, so that you can compare notes against the book's explanation of how they work.

The text does tend to drag or become dry at times, so I would suggest that it's probably best taken in just a few pages at a time. Fortunately, this works well with the topic since it's a great excuse to go back and forth between reading and trying out the games being discussed.

So I've had this book for a few months now, to read and look over and just in general consider. The problem I had reviewing this book is I don't think the author really knew who his audience was, either who he wanted them to be or who would be most likely to pick up the book. The first thing you need to know is that this is not a how to book, not really a how to on any level for the general population. This book might be useful to people studying game design or already in it. I can't say for certain because that is not me. I thought it might be interesting for someone who has studied a little bit of programming and is a gamer, like myself, but I ran into a number of issues with the book. First, there aren't a lot of sources outside of WikkiCommons. There were so many references to WikkiCommons I began to wonder if there are actually serious sources available to the gaming industry to use for research; there are. In fact there is a reference to on page 72 even, but still it wasn't enough where I would feel comfortable using Casual Game Design as a source for anything academic. The other issue I have is the author makes a lot of comments without bothering to back them up with any source at all. For instance on page 79 he talks about Bejeweled being scoffed by hardcore video gamers. What? There is no source for this, and as a so-called hardcore gamer, I can tell you that is not how I feel, and I am not alone in this.

It is not that this book has no value, as it certainly does, but there wasn't enough work put into it for those wanting real insight into this part of the industry, and it wasn't focused enough to even try and appeal to a clear audience. I know the author knows what he is talking about because of the way he writes about the subject, the problem is he doesn't put any effort into supporting many of his statements to being anything more than opinion being sold as fact. As this is not marketed as one guy's opinion on casual game designed, I expected more. Fortunately, there is still enough to appreciate on some level if you are interested in ideas in approaching game design; I especially like the comparison to board games and the breakdown of existing, sometimes very old, casual games.

This is a book about the categories of casual games, and the design patterns needed to design them. Like most people, I've played my share of games from Tetris through Plants vs.Zombies, but I had never stopped to analyze what makes a game enjoyable or compelled me to return to it again and again. With the introduction of the iPhone I've had a lot more time to play casual games, so this is a more topical topic these days as I might be tempted to try and bang out the next big app store hit.

Turns out that there is a lot of theory and craft behind the design of games: who to design for, what are the basic activities people enjoy repeating, how to bring people up to speed on the mechanic, and how to spice things up with tricks of the trade like chaining, adding a timer, or breaking a rule. At its most basic level, this is a book about the "game mechanic". The underlying short list of rules which limit what the player can and can't do and how one scores or advances. It is not a book about game art direction or sound design, or back stories or packaging. It's not even a game entirely about video games, as much of what is taught could also be applied to board games or other out of the box activities.

If one were to start to write the next big game app, this would be a good place to start as it lays out all the basic apps types and archetypes. If nothing else, one could learn how to make a decent Bejeweled clone if not the next great original thing sweeping the inter webs.

The book itself is well and tightly written. I appreciate it when an author doesn't waste my time with filler. Chapters are short and to the point. So kudos to him and thanks for some insight into a field I knew little about.