Books

Books I have written

Theory of Fun for Game Design This book is about what fun is, and why it matters — and how games elicit it. Along the way it touches on cognitive science, theories of art, and what our responsibilities are as creators of games. It has been in print for ten years now. Visit the book’s website.

Books I have provided material for

Generally speaking, I have a chapter in these books, usually a reprint of an essay.

	The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds This volume of legal essays includes The Declaration of the Rights of Players.
	The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology This collection of essays on game design includes The Declaration of the Rights of Players.
	Developing Online Games: An Insider’s Guide This book on the development of online games includes the Online World Timeline, as well as a foreword I wrote.
	Virtual Law: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Virtual Worlds Another legal book that includes The Declaration of the Rights of Players.
	The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid that Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse This book about the seminal virtual world also includes The Declaration of the Rights of Players.
	Cross Currents: Cultures, Communities, Technologies Yet another book that includes The Declaration of the Rights of Players.
	Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design I contributed material to the chapter on online game design.
	Game Design Complete Features an interview with me.
	Settlers of the New Virtual Worlds Yet another book that includes the Rights of Players.

Books I am featured in

These are books where I didn’t write anything myself, but material either about me or my work form a significant chunk of the book.

	Smartbomb: The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution There’s a whole chapter about Star Wars Galaxies in here, including one of the few non-fiction portraits of me.
	Pause & Effect: The Art of Interactive Narrative I spent quite a while talking with Mark Stephen Meadows about ineractive narrative for this book.
	100 Principles of Game Design One of the 100 principles is the Theory of Fun!
	Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide Star Wars Galaxies forms a major part of a case study in “participatory design” in this book.
	Designing Virtual Worlds There are many many references to my work in virtual world and game design theory as well as with various games in this book.