My primary interest in this book is regarding board game design, not "computer games". Though the book deals with the design process for both tabletop and computer games, I have no experience with the latter. With that caveat in mind, I can thoroughly recommend Lewis Pulsipher as someone to lead you through the process.
Unlike most of the other books I've read on the subject, this book gets to the heart of what I want to know - how to create a process for myself when designing a game. I don't care about all that fluff regarding how to get your game seen by publishers. What's the point in that if you don't have a game in the first place? The game's the thing - in fact, the game is everything, and Lewis Pulsipher wastes no time in getting into the detail of process. There is scarcely a spare word in this book, and that's a good thing. You know the author is not wasting your time because he is not wasting his. Right from the preface, he tells you that this book is for people who want to design games; then, with little preamble, it's straight into process and ideas. Now, the author is not going to create ideas for you, but he kind of inspires you to start thinking, if not in new ways, then at least more frequently about what it is you're trying to achieve, how to achieve it, and laying out the common pitfalls. He points out that the pitfalls aren't always avoidable, but it's good to be aware of them going in. He gets to the point: "You want to make games, Johnny? The only way to do it is to do it". I know it seems obvious, but sometimes you just need to be told, and it's refreshing not to feel that the author is winking at you like they have a secret which they've promised to share and never do. I did not feel that this author held anything back, and now I have something really extraordinary on my shelf: a textbook that's not only become my go-to reference, but also an inspiration - believe it or not, it's exciting! And that, to use an overused term, is pretty awesome for a textbook.
If there's anything at all wrong with it, I'd say I'd like a few more examples and that there is a tendency to rely on the games that Mr Pulsipher has designed, such as Britannia, but that's just being really nitpicky, because such examples would be constraining, being based on specific mechanisms and ways of doing things; plus, which games should he talk more authoritatively about than the ones he's designed?
Everything is laid out in a well-designed structure and, though the language throughout is plain, it's clear there has been a lot of intellectual consideration. This feels like an author trying to share information rather than tell you what he knows, if that makes any sense. It's an uncommon attribute, and I value it greatly. It's clear Lewis Pulsipher knows something about game design. With his help, you can learn a little about it, too.
