People have played games forever, but it’s only in the past few decades that people really started thinking about what games are, how they work, and how to make them better.

Anatomy of Game Design takes some of the most popular and beloved games of all time and dissects them to see what makes them tick. By breaking down the systems and content of each game, the underlying systems of game design are laid bare.

Eight games are analyzed – including Settlers of Catan; Centipede; Candy Crush Saga; Papers, Please; Magic: The Gathering; and more – each representing a different genre or era of game design. Each game is discussed in detail, using the same methods for each game. What are the verbs of the game that give the player agency? How do those verbs fit together to form a ...