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September 30, 2005
John Kirk's Design Patterns of Successful Roleplaying Games
John Kirk has written a book, Design Patterns of Successful Roleplaying Games, in which he tries to catalogue successful game mechanics, why they work, and when (and when not) to use them. Design patterns are a communication tool from software development -- the idea is that successful projects will tend to have recurring patterns, and that by naming and describing them and the situations that call for their use, we can make it easier to turn tacit, experiential knowledge into a teachable skill.
This is not a review of the book, since I've just started reading it. I'll post that in the comment section, and I encourage everyone else to post their thoughts their as well.
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Tracked on Oct 4, 2005 11:16:22 AM
Comments
Interesting. Hadn't considered game design as a software development problem.
From my POV, the game system is like a database or a programming language. It has it's own development cycle, design patterns, etc. It can be elegant and brilliant, but if it doesn't give the tools and patterns to allow me to create the game by writing my scenario, then it's not a success.
Posted by: Michael Croft at Sep 30, 2005 11:52:51 PM
Very interesting idea. I'm just in the process of producing my own RPG, having spent the last few years developing and testing it to destruction, and I think it'd be interesting to see how my own system rates according to the theories laid out in the book.
Must add this to my wish-list.
MJE
Posted by: Markham J Eggleton at Oct 2, 2005 10:33:14 AM
Not a wish-list -- it's free. Interesting. I'll have to read this carefully.
Posted by: Bryant at Oct 2, 2005 11:41:50 AM
This is an excellent idea. Now, to read to see if it actually works.
Pedantically: The software book, Design Patterns, was inspired by A Pattern Language, a book on architecture and urban design, which is also a fascinating read.
Posted by: S. Ben Melhuish at Oct 2, 2005 9:58:58 PM
Okay, this thing is well over two hundred pages long. I have barely begun. All I want to know is-- since Google unaccountably let me down-- what is this game "Gnostagon" referenced near the front?
I just like the name....
Posted by: Novak at Oct 4, 2005 1:15:56 AM
Skimmed it, and I'm pretty impressed. I like the way he's built a general vocabulary for character traits, gauges, attributes, skills, flaws, etc. Some of the patterns are a bit blah (hidden rules?), some are quite cool, and a large part of the book is a detailed analysis of the patterns that occur in the games he derived them from - an eclectic mix of old school crunchy (D&D, Shadowrun, RIFTS, Rolemaster, WHFRP, Hero) and new school (Nobilis, Heroquest and a disproportionate number of Forge faves like My Life With Master, Dogs in the Vineyard and Sorcerer). On the one hand I wished he used more examples, on the other I'm not sure I can find one that uses a pattern he missed.
I'm excited.
Posted by: Dotan at Oct 4, 2005 9:15:16 PM
Having given this a sizeable chunk of my time this week, I have to say it's pretty cool. Most of the patterns he discusses are well-defined and while there are a few that seem a tad adventitious it does seem to cover all the bases. And yes, it did help me identify one or two niggles in my own system and tweak them into line.
If you haven't already, download and read this. It's worth it.
MJE
Posted by: Markham J Eggleton at Oct 8, 2005 6:34:48 AM
Having skimmed through this, it reminds me, from a different angle, of what Ben Aldred and I are attempting to do with our book of articles on RPGs. We don't expect to stop the arguments about what games are and how and why people play them; we mostly hope to provide a firmer foundation for people to stand on while having those debates. Similarly, this book could provide game designers with more organized terminology for looking at how they're putting together games -- so they can have more organized arguments about the process. :-)
Posted by: Bryn Neuenschwander at Oct 8, 2005 5:16:54 PM
This is going to the top of my reading list.
Posted by: Fred Wolke at Oct 13, 2005 1:34:15 PM
The book will be next on my list to read
Posted by: Play Free Games at Oct 22, 2005 11:50:42 PM
Just a small correction. The idea of Design Patterns were first introduced by architect Christopher Alexander as a way of thinking about and organizing archtiectural principles. The concept was later adopted by software designers.
Posted by: Nikhos Garcia at Jul 31, 2006 11:32:51 AM
So, all of you people who said you're going to read this, what do you think now?
Posted by: Guy Shalev at Aug 1, 2006 5:11:07 PM
Hi Guy,
My latest thinking is that this is a great effort, but pointed in a different direction than I'm interested in. I'm writing a post about that, so we'll see that soon (I hope).
Posted by: Neel Krishnaswami at Aug 1, 2006 5:18:18 PM
This book is a tremendously useful piece of work. I highly recommend it.
~Adaen
Posted by: Adaen of Bridgewater at Mar 25, 2007 10:10:07 PM
