🥇What Interesting Insights I Gained from the Book 'Theory of Fun for Game Design' by Raph Koster

In this article, I will outline the most interesting conclusions and checklists that I found in Raph Koster's book "Theory of Fun for Game Design".

But first, a little background information:
— I liked the book.
— The book is short, easily readable and interesting. Almost like a novel.
— Raph Koster is an experienced game designer with competencies in music and literature. However, he is not a programmer, so there are noticeable "different" emphases in development, especially evident to a programmer reading him. He started with MUDs.
— The book was published in 2004, so the phrases in the book about the current state of the industry should be taken with a fair amount of skepticism.
— Official website of the book: theoryoffun.com [1].
— Translated version of the book: Raph Koster: Game Development and Theory of Entertainment [2] I read the English version, so I can't comment on the quality of the Russian translation, but it at least exists.
— There are quite a few reviews of this book [3] However, I set myself the task of gathering a brief subjective summary of his recommendations, so this article should not be considered a review.
— This book is regularly recommended, including on Habr: 25 books for a game developer [4].

What it's about

By its semantic structure, the book is divided into two roughly equal parts:
First. A structured study of what interest is in games: an attempt to define it; why playing is interesting; when interest leaves the game. Very engaging and informative. Many analogies and comparisons with other forms of art: music, books, cinema.
Second. Reflections on the maturity of the industry, the purpose of games, and the responsibility of game developers to society. There are rare interesting moments, but mostly it’s boring and uninformative. I found the phrase amusing: "Now the time has finally come when one can freely discuss gender differences without the risk of being accused of sexism." He discussed these differences quite freely.

The main stated value of the book is to explain how to achieve interest in a game. And the book indeed covers this.
But here I have difficulty translating the key word fun into Russian. Russian publishers translated it as "развлечение". Google suggests "веселье". I will use the words "интерес" and "интересность", although the terms "удовлетворённость" and "прикольность" could also fit.
However, I think it's one of those words that has no exact Russian translation, and all the provided translations are inadequate. This interest can be not only fun but also depressing. In English, the word "funny" can mean "strange", and the phrase "funny words" can refer to vulgar words.

Patterns in Games

Patterns in games are the basic structures of behavior that our brains learn to recognize and train for. The process of discovering patterns is the fundamental source of interest in games. When a player learns something new, they receive a chemical reward in the form of pleasure hormones. When a player fully understands everything the game has to offer, their body stops receiving this reward. This is the main idea of the first half of the book, which is explored from different angles using various examples.
In other words, enjoyment from the game comes from discovery. Discovery is the training of skills that the brain recognizes as useful for human survival or that of their tribe since ancient times, so such training must be rewarded. Food for discovery comes from new mechanics (a new genre or gaming platform) and content (story, setting, music).
Thus, it follows that any game is doomed to boredom when a player extracts everything new and becomes a master of it. If the primary source of new knowledge in a game lies in the content (the author calls this the clothing on the patterns), the game will become boring after the first playthrough or viewing on YouTube (the danger of YouTube for narrative games was not so obvious at that time). However, new mechanics not only last longer but also attract new players who have seen someone else's gameplay. Much of this is due to mimicking: when a person sees someone else's success (fun), they also want to replicate it and compete.
(The usual translation of the word patterns is templates, which is not suitable in meaning. Here, it’s likely the same analogy as with design patterns in OOP)

Brief phrases and ideas extracted from the book

— The brain thinks in patterns, not real objects;
— The brain is greedy for new patterns;
— Too new patterns can be perceived by the brain as noise and may be rejected as too unfamiliar and complex. This is why older generations often resist new technologies or trends;
— A completely new experience can be too unfamiliar and off-putting, so an updated old pattern feels safer (there is an analogy in science of being 'too ahead of its time');
— Repeated old patterns lead to boredom due to routine;
— The process of perfecting a pattern is rewarded with pleasure hormones, but after achieving perfection, pleasure is delivered one last time and then ceases;
— Boredom arises when the brain seeks new information for understanding. The brain does not necessarily demand new sensations (unexplored experiences); often, it is satisfied with new data (a new set of enemies, bosses);
— A player can recognize an old pattern in a new game within 5 minutes. The attire and setting will not deceive him. If he finds nothing new, he will consider it boring and leave;
— A player may recognize great depth in a game but might view it as irrelevant for himself. Hence, boredom and exit occur;
— You can't please everyone. Too slow reveal of new mechanics -> the player notices there's been nothing new for a long time -> boring -> exit. Too fast reveal of new mechanics -> too complicated, patterns are not recognized -> boring -> exit.
— The most basic source of pleasure in games: from honing skills in patterns – that is, from understanding. But there are other additional sources: aesthetic; reflexive; social.
— Aesthetic pleasure. Based on recognizing old patterns rather than studying them, such as as a result of a plot twist (example: the movie Planet of the Apes, when the main character sees the Statue of Liberty at the end).
— Social interest (not necessarily multiplayer):
1) schadenfreude when an enemy fails at something;
2) praise, triumph for solving a challenging task, as a signal to the rest of the tribe that you are useful, significant, and important;
3) mentorship when a student succeeds, important for the survival of your tribe;
4) Pride, boasting about your pupil. This signals to the tribe your significance and overall utility.
5) Intimate courtship, indicating relative/local social significance.
6) Generosity, for example, sponsoring other clan members, an important social signal to the tribe about the benefits of having such a tribesman.

Elements of an interesting game

1) Preparation. This means the player should have the opportunity to improve their chances of winning beforehand.
2) Stable mechanics. A set of rules that are clear and accepted by the players.
3) A set of obstacles and conflicts. Players must face various challenges that hinder their progress toward the goal.
4) Multiple ways to overcome obstacles. For example, passing by guards can be achieved by completing heroic quests, bribery, intimidation, or cleverly climbing over a wall.
5) The player's skill affects success. This means the decisions made by the player truly matter and lead to different outcomes.
6) The surrounding world. There should be space for exploration and/or clear boundaries. It’s not ideal to drop the player into an empty field without any introductory information.

For the gaming experience to be educational, the following must be present:
1) Varied feedback on the player's actions: better rewards should be given for more successful decisions.
2) An experienced player solving the easiest problems should receive minimal rewards. For example, if a player hunts others who are significantly weaker, it should be 'economically' disadvantageous.
3) Failure must have a cost. In older games, this meant a complete Game Over, but now it should at least require a replay or result in lost benefits.

Checklist of questions for an interesting game

1) Is preparation needed before facing an obstacle? (to conduct a reconnaissance beforehand)
2) Can there be different ways to prepare and still succeed? (bribing or intimidating the guards)
3) Does the environment of the obstacle influence the obstacle itself? (do the castle entrance guards and those in a small town behave differently?)
4) Are the rules of the game and its mechanics for overcoming obstacles clearly defined? (it’s not good if the guards unpredictably react to open theft one moment and ignore criminal behavior the next)
5) Can the set of rules support a variety of challenges? (too rigid/poor rules limit the possibilities in level design)
6) Can the player use different skills for success? (to become a negotiation master or a brutal enforcer)
7) At high difficulty levels, is the player required to use multiple skills for success? (meaning will they really have to work hard rather than just grind through a dozen levels on boars)
8) Is skill required in using abilities? (spamming shouldn't be an effective strategy)
9) Are there multiple possible outcomes from success so there's no guaranteed result? (it's boring to see the same guard intimidation for the tenth time)
10) Do advanced players not gain benefits from too easy challenges/tasks? (rewards for boars could be completely removed)
11) Does failure cause the player to suffer in some way? (through failure, a bad ending, or missed opportunities)
12) If you remove the graphics, sounds, and story from the game, would it still be interesting to play? (is the core gameplay mechanic still engaging?)
13) All systems used in the game should work towards the main idea (the moral or concept of the game). If a system doesn't contribute to the idea, it should be discarded. This is what the developer of RimWorld did, who didn't add mechanics that didn't enhance his 'story generation system'. That’s why he also didn’t add complex crafting systems.5]
14) Players almost always seek the easy way out: to cheat, skip stories and dialogues that don’t align with their main interest for which they loaded this game. People are lazy. Does the game take such 'lazy' behavior into account? For example, if the player launched your action RPG to swing a sword, not for the plot, perhaps they should be given that opportunity without burdensome backstories (especially if they are mundane and repetitive in the game).

Conclusion

Reading the book took only 8 hours. I highlighted what I considered most valuable, so I may have missed other important ideas. The book is easy and interesting to read, so I confidently recommend it to all video game developers. Especially those who make games as a hobby and lack the resources for traditional attention-grabbing methods like stunning graphics, high-quality content, and tons of professional advertising. If this kind of material interests you, I encourage you to subscribe for my upcoming articles.