You tells the story of the fictional company Black Arts games, who are striving to make the ultimate game. It’s written by Austin Grossman, who certainly has the credentials in video game design, but does it turn out to be a good story?
Well, it’s told through the eyes of Russell, who is a failed law student who basically begs his old high school pals to let him work for them. The book goes through the history of the company, which is entwined in the history of these friends, and also shows how Russell tries to take the lead on game design and tries to make the ultimate game.
Now I wouldn’t class myself as a gamer. I do like computer games but it’s a hobby that’s left more in the past and I don’t keep up with current developments in the industry but I do have, I’d say, more than a passing interest in the culture, but perhaps people who are more ingrained in the industry would get more out of it than I did. I felt that Grossman’s writing style was more functional than poetic, and while he gave good detail about the nature of game design and the shenanigans that occur behind the scenes, and the general chaos of the whole process, I didn’t find the prose captivating.
The story itself is okay and the book does a good job of looking at a number of different genres but I think in order to enjoy this book you have to have an interest in the subject. If you’re a gamer it’s one that you might want to check out, but I only found it a decent read and it didn’t manage to elicit a strong emotional response from me.
