Narrattive Designer: Fabulator Ludus

Narrative Designer: Fabulator Ludus by Stephen E. Dinehart IV is a deceptively small book.  At a little more than 100 pages, it is packed full of very dense ideas on narrative design and storytelling more generally.  I will not say too much about it because I feel like it is the type of book that you need to read a few times to reach a better understanding.

But I do wish the book had a glossary.  It would have been very helpful!

Kindle Book: Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling

Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling is the second book my friend recommended to me on game design. Unlike A Theory of Fun, this one seemed a lot more technical and harder for me to get through. I am not a programmer and have never programmed anything, so the chapters on designing an interactive storytelling engine were especially tough for me to get through.

But with that disclaimer aside, Chris Crawford on Interactive Storytelling is a valuable book for game designers to read (and for game writers as well). Crawford details exactly what interactive storytelling is and how it is different from the stories present in games. He talks about the importance of verb thinking, how verb thinking is difficult for English-speakers, and how traditional games still give players the same few choices over and over. His book is difficult to wrap your head around in ways (especially if you are like me and lack certain frames of reference) but it is still worth reading.

About part way through, I came to the realization that I will benefit from rereading this book in the future. It's given me a lot to think about (and has made me want to try interactive storytelling), but I need to go off for a bit (and maybe learn some basics of scripting languages) before I come back to Crawford's theories.

Kindle Book: A Theory of Fun for Game Design

I've been reading Ralph Koster's A Theory of Fun for Game Design on and off for the last few weeks. A Theory of Fun was recommended to me by a friend. I was excited to find it on Kindle, which meant it was a lot easier to bring this book along with me. :)

A Theory of Game Design is not a book I would have picked up myself right now without my friend's urging. I've been focusing on books about writing video games, while this is theory about game design. That being said, Koster's book is an extremely good read. He breaks games down and starts a theoretical discussion on both games and players. He uses everyday language, making this book easy to understand. If you are remotely interested in game design, you should definitely give this book a read!

Nonfiction: Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames

My goal was to read Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames in about two weeks; I would have read about a chapter a day. But it looks like I powered through the book a bit faster than planned!

I bought Game Writing while I was reading Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing. Both books were created by the IGDA. While reading Professional Techniques, I quickly discovered that it was the more advanced book. And so I snagged Game Writing from Amazon.

My original problem with Professional Techniques was that, while it is full of extremely useful information, the book is relatively advanced. The problem with Game Writing is that it tends to be a little too basic. The first few chapters were all about the basics of writing a story in general. I found myself very familiar with the majority of the concepts in the first half of the book. And then the last couple of chapters seemed a bit more on the advanced side. I think I need something that's like a happy medium between the two books right now.

Another thing that I didn't like was that unlike Professional Techniques, Game Writing does not have any exercises to try out. With the chapters in Game Writing covering more basic concepts, it would have been nice to attempt actually using them, especially now that I am feeling a bit more confident about what I know. But that's okay. I can either go back to some of the exercises in Professional Techniques or see what the next book I read on the subject of video game writing has to offer!

While I'm on the subject, I think I am going to take a brief break from the game writing books. My brain feels like it needs a fiction break!

Nonfiction: Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing

I made a real push to finish Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing tonight. I started reading it a few days ago. While I did persevere, I quickly did realize that it's a bit more advanced than where I'm at. I'm going to need to go and read some of the other books on game writing that I have (which are more basic) before possibly re-reviewing this one. But I am really glad that I read it. I now have a lot more knowledge and insight into video game writing than I had before.

Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing is a book full of articles written by actual game writers. It covers a whole range of topics, from writing game manuals and tutorials to writing for all audiences and for new intellectual properties. I read it from cover to cover, but it's the kind of book you can easily peruse, reading the chapters that pertain to you. Reading the whole book all at once is a bit overwhelming, especially when you are new to game writing. But this is definitely a good book to digest in smaller chunks.

Oh, and my favourite chapter was by Andrew S. Walsh on Writing Tutorials. It was funny and super informative!