Coming soon · Book Profile
A Theory of Fun for Game Design
Games are fundamentally teaching machines, and 'fun' is the pleasurable feedback the brain gives us as we learn and master the patterns they present.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
In A Theory of Fun for Game Design, veteran game designer Raph Koster reframes games not as trivial diversions but as one of humanity's most powerful learning tools. Drawing on cognitive science, information theory, aesthetics, and decades of hands-on design experience, Koster argues that the brain is a voracious pattern-consumer and that fun is simply the emotional reward for grokking new patterns. He explains why games become boring the moment they are mastered, why story and 'dressing' matter but are distinct from a game's mathematical core, why different brains find different games fun, and why games—like all media—carry ethical and artistic responsibility. Accessible, witty, and illustrated, the book offers designers a lens for understanding why games work and a call to raise games to their full potential as an expressive, socially valuable art form.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A game designer (or thoughtful player) who wants to understand why games are fun and to create games that genuinely matter.
- The problem
- Games too often become boring, derivative, or trivially entertaining, and the field lacks a shared theory of what makes them fun. The designer feels their work is dismissed as frivolous and doubts whether making games is a worthwhile contribution.
- The plan
- Understand that the brain learns by consuming, chunking, and grokking patterns.
- Recognize that fun is the feedback for mastering patterns, and boredom the signal of failure.
- See through a game's 'dressing' to its underlying formal core and lessons.
- Check every system against the elements that make gameplay fun and educational.
- Design with authorial intent, cutting systems that don't serve the game's core lesson.
- The payoff
- You design games that keep teaching and stay fun longer. · You take pride in games as a valuable, socially redeeming contribution. · You help elevate games into a mature, respected, expressive art form.
See our guide
Additional reading
- Start with Why · Simon Sinek
The book's core idea—'People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it'—is central to crafting a compelling crowdfunding narrative that connects with backers on an emotional level.
- To Sell Is Human · Daniel Pink
Provides insights into the psychology of pitching and influence, such as the importance of making the audience (backers) feel like collaborators, which is a key strategy for engagement.
- Funding the Dream Podcast · Richard Bliss
A recommended resource for creators, offering interviews and specific insights into crowdfunding tactics and strategies.
- jamesmathe.com (blog) · James Mathe
A creator's blog recommended by the author for its detailed, list-based entries full of practical information for crowdfunders.
- Ready Player One · Ernest Cline
Recommended as an enjoyable alternative read for those who decide crowdfunding isn't for them, showing the author's engagement with geek culture.
- I Have No Words & I Must Design: Toward a Critical Vocabulary for Games · Greg Costikyan
This work is cited as an introduction to critical thought about games and an influence on the authors' thinking about a critical vocabulary for game design.
- Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software · Erich Gamma, John Vlissides, Ralph Johnson, and Richard Helm
This book showed one of the authors how design concepts could be deconstructed into smaller components and reassembled, a core idea behind this book's 'building blocks' approach.
- Writings by Jesse Schell, Bruno Faidutti, and Mark Rosewater · Jesse Schell, Bruno Faidutti, Mark Rosewater
The authors recognize the books, lectures, and blog posts by these individuals as continuing contributions to the body of thinking about games and game design.
- The Compleat Gamester · Charles Cotton
Mentioned as a historical source from 1674 that describes the game of All Fours as being popular in Kent, providing historical context for one of the games in the book.
- The Pickwick Papers · Charles Dickens
Referenced as another historical source where the game of All Fours is mentioned, indicating its cultural prevalence.