chris crawford on game design
review by Zube (zube@stat.colostate.edu)
Created:  Apr 26, 2004
Updated:  Apr 28, 2004
http://www.stat.colostate.edu/~zube/ccogd.txt

Chris Crawford takes _The Art of Computer Game Design_, a book he wrote
twenty years ago (available free from 
http://www.mindsim.com/MindSim/Corporate/artCGD.pdf) and updates it with
twenty years of additional experience and insight.

In short, it's a gem, with some spots more polished than others.

The book is a hefty paperback (475+ pages).  The writing is clear.  The 
images are not to fill space but to illustrate.  His 96 lessons, which
are listed in the sidebar of various pages *are not* repeated word for
word in the text.  Amazing!  This is a book for adults (of any age) written 
by an adult.

Mr. Crawford also presents a substantial recommended reading list.  Double
points for revealing the origin for some of the grist.

I don't program games, nor will I ever, but the book was most interesting.
It is a deep book, one that will require many readings to get the full 
effect.  Well worth the price.

However (you knew there was a however coming, right?), there are a couple
of splatters on this otherwise perfect gem.

First, Mr. Crawford seems to have a rather large opinion of himself and
his creations and spares no expense conveying this to the reader.
Of the 17 computer games he lists as milestones, three are his own (Eastern 
Front (1941), Balance of Power and Trust & Betrayal (a. k. a. Siboot)).  
As he is usually brutally honest about such issues, he gets a pass on this.  
But it continues.  In his list of things to read, he lists:

* Balance of Power, a book he wrote about the game
* Game Design Theory and Practice which "includes interviews with the top
  designers (including me!)"

Okaaaay.  Well, let's see what else is in here.  On page 341, we find
this:

"During the years 1988 through 1990, the three best game designers in the
world set out to build a conquer-the-world style game based on the classic
game Empire, but going well beyond its basic design.  Those three designers
were Sid Meier, Dan Bunten and me ...."

I understand that there are times in life when you must to pat yourself on 
the back because no one else will do it.  I'm not sure this is the place 
for it.  I am sure that the book would read better if these 
valentines-to-myself were excised.

Second, there is a long section at the end of the Guns & Butter chapter
which presents a dialog between Florin and Embert taken from appendix I
of the Guns & Butter manual.  According to the author, it explains the ideas
behind the game.  While it may have worked as an appendix, I found it to
be wildly out of place here.  I would have much preferred a more direct
discussion than the 24 rambling pages offered.

Finally, there is a larger issue to consider.  Mr. Crawford has 
unquestionably been an innovative designer.  But, he also admits that most 
of his games have not been commercial successes, that most games today are 
not single-person efforts and that there isn't much room in the computer
games industry for designers.  So while this book is excellent in many
respects, it is certainly not a how-to book on how to be a successful
designer, if you measure success in terms of fame and money. 

There are a few mistakes (see the errata) and a few of his lessons that I
do not agree with, but for the most part, it's an interesting, well-written 
and thought-provoking book.  Highly Recommended.