Jennifer Olsen, the editor of Game Developer magazine, called the book “ground-breaking” and “a tremendous achievement for such a young discipline.” Zimmerman attempts to answer that question in a fresh-off-the-press, 680-page textbook, Rules of Play, co-authored with another academic designer, Katie Salen. It’s the intellectually satisfying sort of game that would delight the sort of guy who spends his free time wondering, “If there were a critical discourse that would bridge the theory and practice of making games, what would that be?” The pace is methodical and requires intense problem-solving. The graphics are distinctively 1980’s there are no explosions. One game his company designs, Junkbot, goes against the slick, blood-strewn commercial standard: A lo-fi, garbage-eating robot must be guided through a series of spatial configurations that would challenge a civil engineer. Zimmerman, who speaks in a loud, pointed voice and looks at the world through chunky Lucite glasses and a mass of untamed dark curly hair.
“Designing games and play is as ancient a human endeavor as designing structures that are inhabited,” said Mr.
