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Raph Koster

Raph Koster

Game designer, author, speaker

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Raph Koster
Raph Koster
Game designer, author, speaker
  • The Sunday Poem: Father

    Hours December 25, 2005 Categories The Sunday Poem
    Comments 1 Comment

    I don’t have any Christmas poems.

    But since my brother and his wife are expecting a baby boy in June, and my friends Todd & Heather just had a baby girl, and my friends John and Michelle expect a baby any second now, here is a little thing about that moment when you first get the news.

    Read More “The Sunday Poem: Father”

    Read More The Sunday Poem: FatherContinue

  • Any Korean readers willing to do me a favor?

    Hours December 23, 2005December 23, 2005 Categories Misc
    Comments 7 Comments

    I have here three reviews of A Theory of Fun written in Korean, and I don’t know what they say. I’d very much like to know, and also to post the reviews on the book’s website.

    If there’s anyone out there willing to translate them, I’d very much appreciate it. The blog readers map doesn’t show anyone in Korea, but after all, we know most of the readers haven’t put their markers on that yet. 🙂

    Read More “Any Korean readers willing to do me a favor?”

    Read More Any Korean readers willing to do me a favor?Continue

  • The IGF goes retail

    Hours December 23, 2005December 23, 2005 Categories Game talk
    Comments 1 Comment

    The 7th Annual Independent Games Festival has just announced a retail compilation of past IGF entrants, including games like Gish and Strange Adventures in Infinite Space.

    Read More “The IGF goes retail”

    Read More The IGF goes retailContinue

  • Do levels suck? Part II

    Hours December 22, 2005January 15, 2023 Categories Game talk
    Comments 115 Comments

    In the first post, I outlined my reasons for having disliked levels for about ten years now, and then marched through a discussion of how levels were distorted as they were adapted from pen and paper games into CRPGs and then MUDs. It seemed like a fairly damning case against levels, but it wasn’t the whole picture even of the bad parts. It was also far from a picture of the good parts, which present a compelling case for having levels anyway.

    Read More “Do levels suck? Part II”

    Read More Do levels suck? Part IIContinue

  • Grumpy Gamer #9

    Hours December 21, 2005 Categories Game talk
    Comments 2 Comments

    It’s sad to see veteran game designers turn bitter and cynical over the fate of the industry.

    On the other hand, if we keep getting comics like this one then, Ron can stay bitter. 🙂

    Read More Grumpy Gamer #9Continue

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  • Blog
    • Blog Home
    • Recommended posts 1998-2012
    • Recommended posts 2012-2017
    • Recommended posts, 2017-2025
  • Game Design
    • Game Design Home
    • A Theory of Fun site
    • Presentations
    • Essays
    • Interviews and panels
    • Snippets
    • Laws of Online World Design
    • The Online World Timeline
    • MMO History Links
  • Books
    • All the Books
    • Postmortems
    • Theory of Fun
    • Sunday Poems
    • Other writing
      • Fiction
      • Poetry
      • Lit Crit
  • Music
    • My Music
    • After the Flood
      • Amazon
      • iTunes
      • Spotify
    • Listen
    • Instruments and tunings
  • Art
    • Art Home
    • Pencils
    • Pen and Ink
    • Cartoons
    • Digital Art
    • Doodles
  • About Raph
    • About Me
    • CV
    • Contact Raph
    • Press kit
    • Hobbies
      • Emulation
      • Fish tanks
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