本书研究游戏在人类进化和文化发展中的重要作用。强调指出：游戏是文化本质的、固有的、不可或缺的、决非偶然的成分。

撬开你脑子里的那些困惑，让你重新认识游戏设计的真谛，人人都可以成为成功的游戏设计者!从更多的角度去审视你的游戏，从不完美的想法中跳脱出来，从枯燥的游戏设计理论中发现理论也可以这样好玩。本书主要内容包括：游戏的体验、构成游戏的元素、元素支撑的主题、游戏的改进、游戏机制、游戏中的角色、游戏设计团队、如何开发好的游戏、如何推销游戏、设计者的责任等。
本书适合任何游戏设计平台的游戏设计从业人员或即将从业人员，甚至游戏玩家。

According to Roger Caillois, play is "an occasion of pure waste: waste of time, energy, ingenuity, skill, and often of money." In spite of this - or because of it - play constitutes an essential element of human social and spiritual development. In this classic study, Caillois defines play as a free and voluntary activity that occurs in a pure space, isolated and protected from the rest of life. Play is uncertain, since the outcome may not be foreseen, and it is governed by rules that provide a level playing field for all participants. In its most basic form, play consists of finding a response to the opponent's action - or to the play situation - that is free within the limits set by the rules. Caillois qualifies types of games - according to whether competition, chance, simulation, or vertigo (being physically out of control) is dominant - and ways of playing, ranging from the unrestricted improvisation characteristic of children's play to the disciplined pursuit of solutions to gratuitously difficult puzzles. Caillois also examines the means by which games become part of daily life and ultimately contribute to various cultures their most characteristic customs and institutions. Presented here in Meyer Barash's superb English translation, "Man, Play and Games" is a companion volume to Caillois' "Man and the Sacred".

过去的游戏缺乏情感，也很少有值得动情的对象，因为一般游戏角色只能发出机械的声音和做出固定的动作，很难让人产生情感效果。随着计算机游戏技术的提高，我们不断完善模拟的思想、行为与情感，创建更加扣人心弦的游戏，让玩家进入强烈的情感之旅。本书介绍如何创建与提炼情感工程技术。
DavidFreeman的情感工程技术包括下列内容：让玩家认同自己的角色和与NPC(非玩家角色)结合、设计动人而出入意料的游戏时刻、创建具有情感深度的NPC。情感工程技术分为32类，本书分别介绍了所有这些技术，并对每一类中的各种技术进行了演示。

本书囊括了游戏设计的整个流程，剧情、设计文档、游戏策略及玩法等内容，在剧情的创意指导以及游戏设计文档上面，虽然用墨不多，但却极具作用。作者把大量的精力都用于介绍游戏策略与玩法的设计上，包括有“3C”内容（角色、镜头、操作），符号语言、关卡设计、战斗要素、敌对角色的设计、关卡的机关和陷阱的设计、Boss战的设计等。作者并不囿于自身以往的动作RPG游戏设计背景，兼顾了很多种类游戏的设计策略，从而使得本书从理论层面上来说几臻完美。