Just yesterday, I finished reading «Games. The Key to Their Meaning»” by «Friedrich Georg Jünger» (quick note: this particular book hasn't yet been translated into English, but since I'm fluent in Russian, I managed to read the Russian translation, which is readily available), and found myself wondering: Why do older essays, articles, and books on game design (or related topics) — like «Homo Ludens» by Johan Huizinga — seem deeper to me than many modern bestsellers?

These works were written long before the emergence of the video game industry as we know it, yet they provide an astonishingly clear framework for understanding what a game is and why it’s needed. After reading these, let’s call them “old-timers”, I found a certain foundational structure forming in my mind. Not a set of ready-made frameworks, but an overall grasp of the nature of play, the right questions to ask, a theoretical basis one can rely on.

Huizinga, for example, claims that «Play is older than culture», reasoning that animals played long before humans appeared. He shows how play underlies our society, our thinking, and human psychology. Jünger went even further, arguing, quote:

“Play is the only truly natural phenomenon in the world.”

These powerful ideas force you to look at games on a broader scale, to see their “skeleton” — the fundamental principles and the meaning of play. Reading these books, I could literally feel and understand how a structure was forming in my head: why people play, what games mean to humans, and what role a Game Designer plays in this grand context.

What Do Modern Authors Write About?

For contrast, I picked up a couple of modern books on game design — and it felt like stepping into a completely different genre. Instead of discussing the essence of a game, I was met with chapters on entirely different matters:

• Management: How to organize a team, development methodologies, Agile, etc.
• Producing: How to stay on budget, communicate with publishers, plan sprints.
• Marketing and monetization: Retention, funnels, KPIs, and how to squeeze the maximum LTV out of a user.

Are these topics useful? Absolutely. But they have very little to do with actually understanding the game. In some of these books, you might not even see a definition of “game” or an analysis of game mechanics until halfway through — and the authors go straight into practical production issues. You read and catch yourself thinking:

“Where’s the actual game design?”

It’s worse if you never even ask yourself that question and just absorb the material… Many pages are spent on the obvious — stretched-out examples that never form a coherent picture. In the end, after reading a modern book, I’m often left with a slew of scattered tips, but no feeling that I’ve actually gotten closer to knowing how to make games.

I’m not saying that modern game design books are all bad. Some ofc are excellent. But they’re few and hard to find. Meanwhile, fundamental works like Huizinga’s or Jünger’s are considered “outdated,” and because of that, we lose sight of what might have been the best starting point.

What to Do?

I’m by no means calling for “digging up the past” or going back to the design of the NES era (or even earlier). Modern games, mechanics, and technology are our future, and we MUST work with those. My rant is purely about literature, about how and what it teaches future (and current) Game Designers. If at some point you want to feel solid ground under your feet, consider picking up:

• «Homo Ludens» — The Bible for those who want to grasp games as a cultural phenomenon.
• «Games. The Key to Their Meaning» — A look at games as a way of confronting absurdity. (Note: since already have say this book hasn’t been translated into English, but a good alternative might be «Man, Play, and Games» by Roger Caillois, which explores similar themes and is available in English. Otherwise, consider using AI translation tools to access the original.)
• Essays by Sid Meier — Yes, he’s alive, but his ’90s writings are more candid than 90% of modern books.

And only after that dive into “F2P Monetization for Dummies.” Because without understanding why people play, all those “how-to”s are just technique for technique’s sake.

Why is this an issue? Well, I think the problem lies in the blurred role of the Game Designer today. From the very start, Game Design formed, so to speak, “by force.” The first Game Designers were developers, artists, marketers, managers — the very people who built the industry literally from scratch. As a result, today we expect a Game Designer to manage teams, calculate metrics, and think in terms of marketing.

All of that is obviously important — otherwise, how would you deliver a working game? But in this multitasking, universal profession, we seem to have lost the architect — the person who designs the fundamental framework of the game and is responsible for its meaning and structure. Consequently, modern texts break game design into pieces and forget the main thing — the game itself. That doesn’t mean new knowledge is useless; it just often “circles around” rather than hitting the core.

My call to action:

1. Read books that go beyond “Game Design.” Dive into philosophy, psychology, and cultural studies. Understanding a game is born at the intersection of disciplines, not in the confines of a single textbook.
2. Don’t confuse game design with game dev. Coding a mechanic is one thing; understanding why it’s needed and what meaning it conveys to the player is another. Keep that difference in mind.
3. Choose books written by real authors, not copy-pasters. If a book is simply regurgitating trends — drop it. Don’t confuse the cause and the effect; always look for the reason behind things.

Conclusion: Is a Crisis a Good Thing?

Yes. Because a crisis means we’re reworking the old and preparing for something new. Modern literature on game design, just like the industry, can’t yet provide a unified picture. It’s either bogged down in disjointed areas from marketing to management or repeats the obvious. But that’s only temporary.

What’s strange is that almost no one mentions this. Hardly anyone tries to pinpoint the issue at the core of the Game Designer’s profession. Everyone is busy discussing trends, new engines, soft skills… and the foundation is somehow overlooked.

If you’ve read this to the end — go buy “Homo Ludens.” It’s not the easiest read, but after it, I’m sure you’ll start seeing games differently. And yes, if you want to talk about books I might have missed —leave a comment. Maybe together we’ll compile an interesting “must-read” list!

There is more secrets ⇢ t.me/slepokNTe 🕵️‍♂️