A game designer considers the experience of play, why games have rules, and the relationship of play and narrative. The impulse toward play is very ancient, not only pre-cultural but pre-human; zoologists have identified play behaviors in turtles and in chimpanzees. Games have existed since antiquity; 5,000-year-old board games have been recovered from Egyptian tombs. And yet we still lack a critical language for thinking about play. Game designers are better at answering small questions ("Why is this battle boring?") than big ones ("What does this game mean?"). In this book, the game designer Brian Upton analyzes the experience of play--how playful activities unfold from moment to moment and how the rules we adopt constrain that unfolding. Drawing on games that range from Monopoly to Dungeons & Dragons to Guitar Hero, Upton develops a framework for understanding play, introducing a set of critical tools that can help us analyze games and game designs and identify ways in which they succeed or fail.
Situational Design lays out a new methodology for designing and critiquing videogames. While most game design books focus on games as formal systems, Situational Design concentrates squarely on player experience. It looks at how playfulness is not a property of a game considered in isolation, but rather the result of the intersection of a game with an appropriate player. Starting from simple concepts, the book advances step-by-step to build up a set of practical tools for designing player-centric playful situations. While these tools provide a fresh perspective on familiar design challenges as well as those overlooked by more transactional design paradigms. Key Features Introduces a new methodology of game design that concentrates on moment-to-moment player experience Provides practical design heuristics for designing playful situations in all types of games Offers groundbreaking techniques for designing non-interactive play spaces Teaches designers how to create games that function as performances Provides a roadmap for the evolution of games as an art form.
Success, failure, heroism, stupidity, talent, skulduggery ... Upton Park has seen it all. If supporting his club for fifty years has taught Brian Williams one thing it's that football fans definitely need a sense of humour - how else would they cope with the trials and tribulations that are part and parcel of cheering on their team? In this frank and funny take on the travails of a die-hard football supporter, Williams takes a nostalgic look back at some of the great players, great triumphs and great calamities that have marked West Ham's time at Upton Park, exploring the club's influence on its fans, the East End and football as a whole over the course of a lifetime. A Fever Pitch for the Premier League generation, Nearly Reach the Sky is an anecdotal journey through the seminal goals, games, fouls and finals, told with all the comedy, tragedy and irrationality fans of any team will recognise. This is a witty, fond, passionate and poignant tribute to the end of an era at Upton Park, as well as a universal meditation on the perks and perils of football fandom.
The entire Private collection by Kate Brian is now available as an eBook! When Reed Brennan arrived at Easton Academy, she entered a world of privilege she had never known. The other students have everything: trust funds, private planes—and horrible secrets. When Reed’s new crush is found dead in the woods, Reed embarks on a fight for her life as one crazy person after another wants her out of Easton or dead. No one said private school was easy. Now, the entire Private collection is available in one eBook and includes a total of sixteen books: all fourteen books in the series as well as the two standalone prequels, Last Christmas and The Book of Spells.
This revision guide provides concise coverage of the central topics within Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology, presented within a framework designed to help you focus on assessment and exams. The text encapsulates all the subject matter listed in the BPS Qualifying Examination syllabus for Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology. The sequence of chapters is organised temporally, and focuses on how the major conceptual issues in psychology have been handled over time. Further, in each case, the relevance of historical discourses to contemporary psychology is emphasised. Sample questions, assessment advice and exam tips drive the organisation within chapters so you are able to grasp and marshal your thoughts towards revision of the main topics. Features focused on critical thinking, practical applications and key research will offer additional pointers for you in your revision process and exam preparation. A companion website provides supporting resources for self testing, exam practice, answers to questions in the book, and links to further resources.
Now that Cheyenne's murderer has been revealed and Reed knows the truth about who's been stalking her, she's ready for a break. What better way to relax than on a five-star Caribbean vacation with the Billings Girls? At first the trip is heaven on Earth: beach parties, forty-foot yachts, shopping trips to exclusive boutiques . . . But even in sunny paradise, the Girls are never far from trouble - and they're about to get burned.
Reed Brennan thought that a winter break in the islands with some of the Billings Girls, old and new, was just what she needed to recover from her traumatic last term at Easton. At first everything is perfect; relaxing, fun and elegant. But then things take a more sinister turn and suddenly Reed finds herself in danger once more. If Reed wants to survive her fateful vacation she must discover who is after her and why, before it's too late
Now that Cheyenne's murderer has been revealed and Reed knows the truth about who's been stalking her, she's ready for a break. What better way to relax than on a five-star Caribbean vacation with the Billings Girls? At first the trip is heaven on Earth: beach parties, forty-foot yachts, shopping trips to exclusive boutiques . . . But even in sunny paradise, the Girls are never far from trouble - and they're about to get burned.
General George Armstrong Custer and his wife, Libbie Custer, were wholehearted dog lovers. At the time of his death at Little Bighorn, they owned a rollicking pack of 40 hunting dogs, including Scottish Deerhounds, Russian Wolfhounds, Greyhounds and Foxhounds. Told from a dog owner's perspective, this biography covers their first dogs during the Civil War and in Texas; hunting on the Kansas and Dakota frontiers; entertaining tourist buffalo hunters, including a Russian Archduke, English aristocrats and P. T. Barnum (all of whom presented the general with hounds); Custer's attack on the Washita village (when he was accused of strangling his own dogs); and the 7th Cavalry's march to Little Bighorn with an analysis of rumors about a Last Stand dog. The Custers' pack was re-homed after his death in the first national dog rescue effort. Well illustrated, the book includes an appendix giving depictions of the Custers' dogs in art, literature and film.
After the initiation ceremony of Reed's newly created secret society, Noelle has disappeared and the only clue is a mysterious note. Is Reed's behaviour the cause or is there something more sinister happening? With the kidnapper warning of worse things to come if Reed tells anyone of Noelle's abduction, Reed realises it's up to her discover who has taken Noelle and to try and rescue her… before she becomes the next target.
During the tense months leading up to the American Civil War, the cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point continued their education even as the nation threatened to dissolve around them. Students from both the North and South struggled to understand events such as John Brown's Raid, the secession of eleven states from the Union, and the attack on Fort Sumter. By graduation day, half the class of 1862 had resigned; only twenty-eight remained, and their class motto—"Joined in common cause"—had been severely tested. In For Brotherhood and Duty: The Civil War History of the West Point Class of 1862, Brian R. McEnany follows the cadets from their initiation, through coursework, and on to the battlefield, focusing on twelve Union and four Confederate soldiers. Drawing heavily on primary sources, McEnany presents a fascinating chronicle of the young classmates, who became allies and enemies during the largest conflict ever undertaken on American soil. Their vivid accounts provide new perspectives not only on legendary battles such as Antietam, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, and the Overland and Atlanta campaigns, but also on lesser-known battles such as Port Hudson, Olustee, High Bridge, and Pleasant Hills. There are countless studies of West Point and its more famous graduates, but McEnany's groundbreaking book brings to life the struggles and contributions of its graduates as junior officers and in small units. Generously illustrated with more than one hundred photographs and maps, this enthralling collective biography illuminates the war's impact on a unique group of soldiers and the institution that shaped them.
Historical and contemporary photographs accompany a narrative reflection on Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer's "Last Stand" at the Battle of Little Bighorn, which includes personal accounts of battle veterans.
War Hammers II, the sequel to the fascinating story of the club during the First World War, looks at the achievements and developments of the Upton Park heroes throughout the Second World War. West Ham United was forced to adapt in the dark days of the 1940s, building the outlook and approach that would eventually give rise to the club's most successful period, and establishing a culture of style and support that is still present today. Exploring the power, politics and intrigue of wartime football, a detailed account is given of the Irons' 1940 War Cup victory and of those who played for the club between 1939 and 1945. Author Brian Belton includes huge global events and many local incidents within the context of the club's history, to create a book that is sure to fascinate and entertain football fans and historians alike.
From Lexington and Gettysburg to Normandy and Iraq, the wars of the United States have defined the nation. But after the guns fall silent, the army searches the lessons of past conflicts in order to prepare for the next clash of arms. In the echo of battle, the army develops the strategies, weapons, doctrine, and commanders that it hopes will guarantee a future victory. In the face of radically new ways of waging war, Brian Linn surveys the past assumptions--and errors--that underlie the army's many visions of warfare up to the present day. He explores the army's forgotten heritage of deterrence, its long experience with counter-guerrilla operations, and its successive efforts to transform itself. Distinguishing three martial traditions--each with its own concept of warfare, its own strategic views, and its own excuses for failure--he locates the visionaries who prepared the army for its battlefield triumphs and the reactionaries whose mistakes contributed to its defeats. Discussing commanders as diverse as Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton, and Colin Powell, and technologies from coastal artillery to the Abrams tank, he shows how leadership and weaponry have continually altered the army's approach to conflict. And he demonstrates the army's habit of preparing for wars that seldom occur, while ignoring those it must actually fight. Based on exhaustive research and interviews, The Echo of Battle provides an unprecedented reinterpretation of how the U.S. Army has waged war in the past and how it is meeting the new challenges of tomorrow.
Packed with information and little-known facts about the club, the players, the managers and the fans, it cannot fail to please anyone whose obsession is all things claret and blue - and may even surprise a few who thought they knew it all! For many years, the terraces, the pubs and the living rooms of West Ham fans have buzzed with debate, speculation, opinions and laughter. Who was West Ham's best manager? who was their worst? Who should form the greatest-ever Upton Park XI? And who should be included in the worst? These kinds of questions and hundreds like them are answered within the pages of this informative, light-hearted book. From young to old, from die-hard, all-weather supporter to armchair fan, there is something in this collection for everyone. Author Brian Belton is one of the most prolific historians of West Ham United and has drawn on a lifetime of reserach to put this book together. With quotes from some of the greatest Hammers of all times (and their opponents!), Upton Park chants from through the years and much, much more, this unique book provides fans with a Hammers bible they wouldn't dare be without!
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