Game Design

So I finished reading A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster and it is wicked. I have never finished a game so I can't call myself a game designer but I'll gladly say that when I do finish a game I will be a better game designer.

What's so interesting about the book is that it doesn't tell you how to make a good shmup or how to make the coolest flight simulators, instead it focuses on the psychology behind fun and games. So what makes a game fun? Well I'd be spoiling the book if I told you, wouldn't I?

Though I'm going to swear by Raph Koster's book as if it was the Bible and he was Jesus (because Jesus wrote the Bible*) I have to mention I found other great resources on good game design. Some of these are more axed on specific aspects of it (like level design) and some focus on the higher level details.

• The 400 Project
• Game Studies
• Lost Garden
• Much better blog than this one
• Most importantly, this post
• Valve wiki on level design
  

(I didn't find all these resources by myself but I think it doesn't hurt that I redistribute the links)

*Don't quote me on that...