The Snare of the Tree, and Other Perilous Seductions: Essays on Dangers in Game Design

The Snare of the Tree, and Other Perilous Seductions: Essays on Dangers in Game Design

Author: Alexis Kennedy

Publisher: Alexis Kennedy

Published: 2021-11-30

Total Pages: 68

ISBN-13: 9781916902435

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What makes us glad we've played some games, but regret we've played others? What are the game design equivalents of 'savoury' and 'sweet?' Why is a working title dangerous, what menaces lurk in model railway dioramas, and what is the Snare of the Tree? Alexis Kennedy is an award-winning game designer who has developed some of the most original and intelligent indie games of the last decade, including Fallen London, Sunless Sea and Cultist Simulator. He is also the author of Against Worldbuilding, and Other Provocations. "I published Against Worldbuilding, and Other Provocations, and I got a good response. Readers also pointed out some things they'd prefer. Some wanted more original content. Some wanted more writing about the games I've made. One wanted "The Design of Everyday Things but for games." A couple of helpful souls pointed out that the first edition would have benefited from page numbers. This is a first stab at delivering some of those things. I can confirm the presence of page numbers. It's all original content. Some of it is about the games I've made. And I originally intended this book to be a much longer weightier thing, a total encapsulation of my views on games and game design. You'll be relieved to hear that this ain't that. I'll need another few years to marinade anything that size. The Snare of the Tree, And... is, instead, a punchy little number that you should be able to absorb in a couple of days of commuting."


Against Worldbuilding, and Other Provocations

Against Worldbuilding, and Other Provocations

Author: Alexis Kennedy

Publisher: Alexis Kennedy

Published: 2021-05-26

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 9781916902411

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For twelve years, Alexis Kennedy has been writing some of the most original and intelligent narrative games of the last decade - Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Cultist Simulator, and more, as well as guest-writing gigs for BioWare, Paradox and Telltale Games.And for most of that time, he's been writing *about* games as well.Here for the first time in one place are the best of his essays and columns - from hard-won lessons about game development to reviews of unreviewable games, from narrative design principles to writing masterclasses, from historical discursions on labyrinths to the notorious 'Against Worldbuilding'.


Expositions of the Psalms 1-32 (Vol. 1)

Expositions of the Psalms 1-32 (Vol. 1)

Author: Saint Augustine (of Hippo)

Publisher: New City Press

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 1565481402

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"As the psalms are a microcosm of the Old Testament, so the Expositions of the Psalms can be seen as a microcosm of Augustinian thought. In the Book of Psalms are to be found the history of the people of Israel, the theology and spirituality of the Old Covenant, and a treasury of human experience expressed in prayer and poetry. So too does the work of expounding the psalms recapitulate and focus the experiences of Augustine's personal life, his theological reflections and his pastoral concerns as Bishop of Hippo."--Publisher's website.


The Hero with a Thousand Faces

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Author: Joseph Campbell

Publisher: HarperCollins UK

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 107

ISBN-13: 0586085718

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A study of heroism in the myths of the world - an exploration of all the elements common to the great stories that have helped people make sense of their lives from the earliest times. It takes in Greek Apollo, Maori and Jewish rites, the Buddha, Wotan, and the bothers Grimm's Frog-King.


Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

Author: Richard Hofstadter

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2012-01-04

Total Pages: 465

ISBN-13: 0307809676

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Winner of the 1964 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction Anti-Intellectualism in American Life is a book which throws light on many features of the American character. Its concern is not merely to portray the scorners of intellect in American life, but to say something about what the intellectual is, and can be, as a force in a democratic society. "As Mr. Hofstadter unfolds the fascinating story, it is no crude battle of eggheads and fatheads. It is a rich, complex, shifting picture of the life of the mind in a society dominated by the ideal of practical success." —Robert Peel in the Christian Science Monitor