Reviewing the final draft

Well, I’m all done voting. I’m also almost done proofing! Last night, we printed out the whole thing, both sides of the page, so what we got was something that closely resembled the book. Then for the first time, both my wife and I went over it with red pen, rather than doing editing on the computer… there’s something about that change of venue that makes it easier to see mistakes.

It looks like a couple of pages are running a bit long, so there will be just some minor touch-ups, but nothing too drastic. We’re pretty excited.

In other news, there’s actually stuff up in the Stuff section now–a mug, some shirts, and some mousepads. I’d love to hear what sort of stuff people might want…

I’ve also updated the front page with a bunch of quotes about the book that I have gotten from various folks. A special shout-out goes to Loren over at The Incremental Blogger, who commented on the book in his blog, saying,

The ISBN classification will call it a book about game design, but I’m guessing that the creativity and concepts will inspire designers and doers of all types.

The book’s genesis comes from a presentation that Raph gives on game design (5MB PDF). And no, this isn’t any ordinary PowerPoint slide presentation. Raph trades bullet lists for ink drawings. Words are limited to “See Jane run” simplicity. The result has a decidedly Lawrence Lessig feel about it and grabs your attention. And as a Tablet PC enthusiast the style shouts out “Tablet PC” to me.

The book is equally visual. It’s loaded with Raph’s illustrations. But it’s not all drawings–although with Raph’s conciseness that would be equally compelling. The manuscript is also filled with easy-to-read prose that’s interwoven with friendly insights and cerebral theories. I’m not finished reading the manuscript yet, but I just had to point out the book now. It gets the creative juices flowing.

Glad you liked it, Loren!