Koster's A Grammar of Game Play To Debut

Author: by Beth A.

Paraglyph Press has announced the imminent debut of A Grammar of Game Play: How Games Work, a sequel to veteran game designer and former Sony Online Entertainment chief creative officer Raph Koster's (Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies) A Theory of Fun. In the book, which follows up the previously Gamasutra-excerpted Koster book published in 2004, "introduces readers to a new way at looking at game design", according to the publisher. As in the previous tome, Koster provides illustrations and commentary to help the reader develop a working "grammar" to understand how games are designed, how they communicate, how they model reality, and how they stimulate and challenge players. Some of the important concepts presented in the book include using game design patterns, understanding games as models, creating a language to dissect and communicate design ideas, maximizing the use of art styles, color, storytelling, and music to create dynamic interactive environments, and much more. For more information, interested parties can visit the official product page for the book, which is distributed by major technical publisher O'Reilly.