Books

Postmortems: Selected Essays Volume One

This first volume of a three-book set of selected essays collects previously written postmortems and many brand new pieces. They are accompanied by historical material such as posts written for players, chat logs, speeches, design sketches, and more. The result is an inspiring historical look back at the development of virtual worlds. These are the stories behind Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies, the story of the early art game Andean Bird and the story of the ambitious project Metaplace that aimed to build the Metaverse.

Theory of Fun for Game Design

This book is about what fun is, and why it matters — and how games elicit it. Along the way it touches on cognitive science, theories of art, and what our responsibilities are as creators of games. It has been in print for ten years now. Visit the book’s website.

The book is also available in a number of translated editions:

Sunday Poems

Starting in 2005, I began to post poetry on this website each Sunday. Ten years later, this is a collection of eighty of those poems, accompanied by pen and ink illustrations.

The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds

This volume of legal essays includes The Declaration of the Rights of Players.

Tabletop Game Design for Video Game Designers

This book includes my essay “On Getting Criticism.”

The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology

This collection of essays on game design includes The Declaration of the Rights of Players.

Developing Online Games: An Insider’s Guide

This book on the development of online games includes the Online World Timeline, as well as a foreword I wrote.

Virtual Law: Navigating the Legal Landscape of Virtual Worlds

Another legal book that includes The Declaration of the Rights of Players.

The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid that Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse

This book about the seminal virtual world also includes The Declaration of the Rights of Players.

Cross Currents: Cultures, Communities, Technologies

Yet another book that includes The Declaration of the Rights of Players.

Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design

I contributed material to the chapter on online game design.

Game Design Complete

Features an interview with me.

Settlers of the New Virtual Worlds

Yet another book that includes the Rights of Players.

Galaxies: An Empire Remembered: The Definitive Unauthorized Guide to Star Wars Galaxies

This is a detailed illustrated history of Star Wars Galaxies, the MMO that I was creative director on in 2003.

Braving Britannia: Tales of Life, Love, and Adventure in Ultima Online

This book is an oral history of Ultima Online, the game that I was the original creative lead on in 1997.

MMOs from the Inside Out: The History, Design, Fun, and Art of Massively-multiplayer Online Role-playing Games

MMOs from the Outside In: The Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games of Psychology, Law, Government, and Real Life

This paired set of books by Dr. Richard Bartle features numerous references to my writings and game design, including design analyses and commentary on my game design writings.

Online Game Pioneers at Work

A lengthy interview of me, covering pretty much my whole career up to the point of leaving Disney, is one of many interviews of online game developers featured in this book.

Smartbomb: The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution

There’s a whole chapter about Star Wars Galaxies in here, including one of the few non-fiction portraits of me.

Pause & Effect: The Art of Interactive Narrative

I spent quite a while talking with Mark Stephen Meadows about interactive narrative for this book.

100 Principles of Game Design

One of the 100 principles is the Theory of Fun!

Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide

Star Wars Galaxies forms a major part of a case study in “participatory design” in this book.

Designing Virtual Worlds

There are many many references to my work in virtual world and game design theory as well as with various games in this book.