Jesse Shell's 'In the Beginning is the Game Designer'

I AM A GAMES DESIGNER!

Will you Fail Sometimes?

Answer: Yes, yes you will. You will fail again, again and again, and you will fail many more times and that is when you will succeed; Jesse Shell is saying so that we can learn from are mistakes, making sure will learn from those mistakes.

"Each failure brings you a step closer to a Truly phenomenal game".
- Jesse Shell

"If you aren't falling, you aren't trying hard enough and you aren't really a game designer".
- Jesse Shell

The most Important Skill for a game designer is Listening. Listening is a huge part of being a Games Designer, it applies to yourself and the client.

- Listen to the Client: The Client is the one that will be paying you and if you don't give them what they want, they will find someone's else who can do the job. So always listen to the Client and give them what they want even if it a ridiculous idea.

- Listen to Yourself: If you can listen to Yourself it can become the most powerful tool in Games Design, it is the secrets behind your tremendous creativity.

Caillois Terminology Notes

Caillois Terminology in Roger Caillois: Man, Play and Games

Cailois Divides play into four main categories:

•   Alea/(Chance)

•   Ilinx/(Vertigo)

•   Agon/(Competition)

•   Mimicry/(Simulation)


And alongside the four categories is the directions of Ludas and Paidia:

•   Paidia: Paidia is an emphasis on playfulness.

•   Ludas: Ludas means an emphasis on rules.

The four categories aren't meant as exclusive and inseparable. Collois gives examples of many types of hybrids between the categories. They are well thought of as elemental they are not components, but they dimensions of any given game or form of play.

•   Alea: Alea describes the element of chance, in the game chance creates the outcome.

•   Ilinx: Ilinx is discribed by Caliois by topic that doesn't nearly have as much attention as the other categories that Caillois described.

•   Agon: Agon is the copetitive nature of play, agon depends on competition and opposition such as sport. 

•   Mimicry: Mimicry is the developing side of games. Mimicry is is another to participate within the illusory world.

•   Paidia: Paidia is the freedom within gameplay of basic levels, the freedom and rules have a relationship because the gameplay is depending on the rules of the game but simultaneously it is about the freedom from the rules.

•   Ludas: Ludas is a desire to find amusement in obstacles, that leads to the sense of what games are but the definition alone does not imply it. 

Games Britannia - Dicing with Destiny

Games Britannia is a TV documentary presented by Benjamin Woolley. Through the show Benjamin explores popular games in Britain from old to new and explores the social and history behind the games we play today.

The documentary begins with Benjamin talking about the archaeological dig where a body was found in a grave and there laid an already set board game among with other relics we now know as Alea Evangelii. We are not sure why this person was buried with the game but we can say that the person must have been important such as the creator of the game itself.

The Documentary then moves on to the works of Dr. Irving Finkel the Assistant Keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian. Who then talks about the game, he talks about the possibilities of the games rules which are only guessed not actual rules of the games. When I say 'guessed' I mean it by the rules are unknown and from hard work research they have came to these rules.

Looking into the game mechanics and how it's rules.

- The game board consists of 19 x 19 squares shown in the image below.

- A player will have more number of pieces than the other.

- The game starts with black counters, so the player who starting with the black counters will move one of their pieces on his/her turn.

- Pieces can not move through or onto an occupied intersection, but the King piece can only move through or onto the castles and citadels.

- Capturing pieces can only be done when the enemies pieces are surrounding on two opposite sides of the players counter. Kings cannot capture enemy pieces.

- The King can only be captured when the enemy pieces are surrounding with all four sides of the King, the King can also be captured with three pieces when the King is in a corner of the board.

- To win the game the player with the black counters have to capture the King where as the player with the white counters can only win when the King has reached the corner.

Interview

Q: What is the title of the Book (Fiction) you are currently reading (or the last Fiction book you have read)?

A: Metro 2033. The book is set in Russia in the city Moscow; the year 2033, the world has been reduced to rubble. Humanity is nearly extinct, a few thousand live on not knowing if they are the only survivors on the planet. They live under Moscow in the Metros (the biggest air-raid shelter ever built), it is humanities last refuge. It is a world without tomorrow, with no room of dreams, plans or hopes. Feelings have given way to instinct - the most important of which is survival. Survival at any price.

Q: What is the title/topic of the book (non-fiction) you are currently reading (or the last non-fiction book you have read)?

A: History of Art. Looking up Leonardo Da Vinci's work.

Q: What is the last live performance (Music, Drama, or Dance) you attended?

A: The Script

Q: What is the title of the last film you saw at the cinema, online or watched on DVD?

A: Wedding Crashers. John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn), a pair of committed womanizers who sneak into weddings to take advantage of the romantic tinge in the air, find themselves at odds with one another when John meets and falls for Claire Clearly.

Q: How often do you read a newspaper?

A: The Sun (to be honest 'The Sun' isn't really a newspaper anymore)

Q: Which Art Gallery/ Museum/ Exhibition did you last visit?

A: Tate Modern. An Art trip in college.

Q: How many hours a week do you spend playing video games?

A: Between 8 - 10 hours a Week.

Q: How many hours a week do you spend playing games other than video games?

A: 1 - 2 hours once a month.

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