References

The intellectual lineage behind this knowledge base - key thinkers, texts, and traditions that inform the Gesture + Aesthetic Heritage approach.

Core Videogame-Focused Books

  • Steve Swink - Game Feel (2009). The definitive text on real-time control feel. Essential for understanding Gesture.
  • Ian Bogost - Persuasive Games (2007). Procedural rhetoric: videogames make arguments through rules.
  • Brendan Keogh - A Play of Bodies (2018). Phenomenological approach to videogames. The body as site of meaning.
  • Anna Anthropy & Naomi Clark - A Game Design Vocabulary (2014). Player-centric vocabulary, accessible design language.
  • Raph Koster - A Theory of Fun for Game Design (2004). Connects learning and pattern recognition to player enjoyment.
  • Tracy Fullerton - A Playful Production Process (2024). On iterative design and playtesting.

Key Thinkers

Game Studies & Design

  • Jesse Schell - The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. The lenses framework. See The Design Lens.
  • Jesper Juul - Half-Real. Rules and fiction in videogames. Foundational videogame studies text.
  • Miguel Sicart - Beyond Choices: The Design of Ethical Gameplay (2013). Ethics in videogame design.

Design Theory

  • Donald Schon - The Reflective Practitioner (1983). Design as conversation with materials. Core to Code as Material.
  • Christopher Alexander - A Pattern Language. Architecture as communication. Influences level design thinking.

Psychology & Learning

  • Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (1990). The optimal experience that good pacing supports. See Player Psychology.
  • Seymour Papert - Mindstorms (1980). Coding as thinking tool. Influences Debugging as Literacy.

Heritage

  • Harold Bloom - The Anxiety of Influence (1973). Literary influence theory. Informs our approach to Aesthetic Heritage.

Academic Papers

  • Hunicke, LeBlanc, Zubek - "MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design" (2004). The Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics framework.

GDC Talks Worth Watching

  • Valve's developer commentaries (in-game, Portal and Half-Life series)
  • Mark Brown's Game Maker's Toolkit series (YouTube)
  • Itay Keren - "Scroll Back: The Theory and Practice of Cameras in Side-Scrollers"
  • Jan Willem Nijman - "The Art of Screenshake" (Vlambeer's juicing philosophy)
  • Tim Rogers - Action Button Reviews (long-form analysis)

What We Take, What We Leave

This knowledge base doesn't adopt any theory wholesale. For each thinker/tradition:

  • From Bogost: Procedural rhetoric, videogames-as-arguments. Leaving: Sometimes too formalist.
  • From Keogh: Embodiment, phenomenology. Leaving: Can be inaccessible writing.
  • From Swink: Feel vocabulary, real-time control. Leaving: Narrow focus on action videogames.
  • From Schell: Lenses, comprehensive view. Leaving: Can be encyclopedic without depth.

This is a maker's knowledge base, not a scholar's. Theory serves practice.

See Also