"Good game design books?" Topic

Bill found a link to a "Gamification" class (Free) TMP link

I think it could be helpful as it applies game design to non-game problems.

The following are good books on general games design – not limited to miniature wargaming of course. But they are "classics" and often used as textbooks in college courses:

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I would advise to stay away from "gamification". Buzzword without much content, and can be summarized by: "If you give a kid a cookie for doing X, chances are he will do some more X". link

If you want some design notes on how to think about miniature wargaming design in particular, that's harder to find. Many good design ideas have appeared in magazines over the years.

Probably the closest you can get are the "Secrets of Wargames Design" series of booklets, which are reprinted columns from Wally Simon.

I would also suggest "The Wargame" by Charles Grant, It's very old-school (early 70s if not mistaken), but the book itself has a very good explanation on how the rules were designed from basic principles. This book is currently available as a reprint.

The best way to learn about good (and bad) design in miniature wargaming is to read a lot different rulesets. Not so much the very commercial publications, but there's great stuff to be found on wargamevault.com from independent designers and ruleswriters.

I am not sure you really need a book. Mostly, you need to capture all the salient points of the era you are trying to game without going over board with detail.

Example: Ancient era has movement, shooting, melee and morale. Morale can be handled as a simple pass fail with failure resulting in the unit routing. Melee and shooting can be handled with your favorite combat mechanic. Armor, and weapons can be generalized and only the more extreme cases should have a big effect. Formations should be static as formation changes were not a feature of the ancient or medieval battle. That's kind of the game right there.

Didn't Donald Featherstone write some books on this?

Not directly aimed at miniatures, but "Game Design volume 1: Theory and Practice" by Nick Schuessler and Steve Jackson, published by Steve Jackson Games in 1981. It's available as a PDF from the SJG sales website warehouse23.com

Check the first reply here: bgdf.com/node/11414 Not sure which ones are the most relevant.

The Steve Jackson Games book has some interesting tidbits in it. I have the original version.

Featherstone is a perfect example of a case where game mechanics don't matter. He firmly believed that and you could tell by his more narrative writing style when he explained rules. I do highly recommend his books for at least inspiration.

Neil Thomas is somewhat unique in reviving the art of the wargaming book. His style is very similar to the old Charles Grant, Featherstone etc books which take you step by step through the process.

For in print books, I can only really recommend more Neil Thomas books (his nineteenth century one is very good) and maybe Phil Sabin although he is more interested in simulation.

Otherwise you back into looking for long OOP copies of Battle, Napoleonic Wargaming etc.

There are plenty of operations research books on conflict simulation, but they are more aimed at professional (ie military) Wargames. I find these sorts of things very interesting, others may find them less so.

There are many, many articles in the Wargames Developments Journal about designing Wargames, but you'll have to dig through all the back issues to find them. They are free though.

because all designers have their own style, very few design books are worthwhile. looking up articles on specific design principles may be better. if you have to use a book, try to find a loaner at the library through the inter-library loan program. that it where i find a lot of hard to locate material.

May I suggest the Wally Simon 'Secrets of Wargame Design' series. Five volumes are currently available from On Military Matters (US) and Caliver Books (UK). List of

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Full disclosure: I edited the series.

Vol. I: Secrets of Wargame Design --- $19 USD
Vol. II: More Secrets of Wargame Design --- $19 USD
Vol. III: Solo Secrets of Wargame Design --- $19 USD
Vol. IV: Campaign Secrets of Wargame Design --- $19 USD
Vol. V: Master Secrets of Wargame Design --- $19 USD

Offers a wide range of game mechanics covering command/control, movement, firing, morale, and other mechanics adaptable over wide range of periods.

I like NT's style of explanation for his rules in One-Hour Wargames and Introduction to wargaming. Now I want a little more discussion of game mechanics, turn sequence structure, etc.

Most of the game books are either solid, but general guides to game design, like "Rules of Play". Others are ideas about specific game mechanics like the "Wally Simon" books. However, if you want something like N.T. explanations, you will want to look at different designers' notes around designing specific games.