Credits ii Foreword iii Parti: Concerning 1 The Game Is Not the Rules 2 by James Ernest Play More Games V by Richard Garfield Pacing Gameplay 11 Three-Act Structure Just Like God and Aristotle Intended by Jeff Tidball Metaphor vs. Mechanics 19 Don '/ Fight the Fusion by Matt Forbeck Whose Game Is It Anyway? 24 by Mike Selinker Part 2: Design 33 How I Design a Game 34 by Andrew Looney Design Intuitively 42 by Rob Daviau Come on in and Stay a While 50 Designing Gateway Games to Create New Gamers by Lisa Steenson The Most Beautiful Game Mechanics 56 by Mike Selinker Strategy Is Luck 61 by James Ernest Let's Make It Interesting 66 Designing Gambling Games by James Ernest Part 3: Development Developing Dominion 74 What Game Development Is All About by Dale Yu Thinking Exponentially 80 The Tricky Task of Imbalancing Collectible Games by Paul Peterson Stealing the Fun 84 by Dave Howell Writing Precise Rules 90 by Mike Selinker It's Not Done Till They Say It's Done 99 The Who, What, Where, When, and Why of Playtesting by Teeuwynn Woodruff Put 4: Presentation 107 Amazing Errors in Prototyping 108 by Steve Jackson Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Prototypes* 112 *(But Were Afraid to Ask) by Dale Yu Life's a Pitch 118 How to License Your Game by Richard C. Levy Getting Your Game Published 124 The Process from Proposal to Print by Michelle Nephew Afterword 137