Situational Game Design - Paperback

by Brian Upton (Author)

Situational Design lays out a new methodology for designing and critiquing videogames. While most game design books focus on games as formal systems, Situational Design concentrates squarely on player experience. It looks at how playfulness is not a property of a game considered in isolation, but rather the result of the intersection of a game with an appropriate player. Starting from simple concepts, the book advances step-by-step to build up a set of practical tools for designing player-centric playful situations. While these tools provide a fresh perspective on familiar design challenges as well as those overlooked by more transactional design paradigms.

Key Features

Introduces a new methodology of game design that concentrates on moment-to-moment player experience

Provides practical design heuristics for designing playful situations in all types of games

Offers groundbreaking techniques for designing non-interactive play spaces

Teaches designers how to create games that function as performances

Provides a roadmap for the evolution of games as an art form.

Author Biography

Brian Upton is 20-year veteran of the game industry.　 He was one of the founders of Red Storm Entertainment where he designed the original Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.　 From 2002 to 2016 he worked as a senior game designer at Sony's Santa Monica Studio, where he collaborated with external teams on innovative indie titles such as Fat Princess, Warhawk, Sorcery, Everybody Has Gone to the Rapture, Bound,　and Here They Lie.　 He currently is lead world designer at Tangent Games.