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The Snare of the Tree, and Other Perilous Seductions: Essays on Dangers in Game Design
What makes us glad we've played some games, but regret we've played others? What are the game design equivalents of 'savoury' and 'sweet?' Why is a working title dangerous, what menaces lurk in model railway dioramas, and what is the Snare of the Tree?
Alexis Kennedy is an award-winning game designer who has developed some of the most original and intelligent indie games of the last decade, including Fallen London, Sunless Sea and Cultist Simulator. He is also the author of Against Worldbuilding, and Other Provocations.
"I published Against Worldbuilding, and Other Provocations, and I got a good response. Readers also pointed out some things they’d prefer. Some wanted more original content. Some wanted more writing about the games I’ve made. One wanted “The Design of Everyday Things but for games.” A couple of helpful souls pointed out that the first edition would have benefited from page numbers.
This is a first stab at delivering some of those things. I can confirm the presence of page numbers. It’s all original content. Some of it is about the games I’ve made. And I originally intended this book to be a much longer weightier thing, a total encapsulation of my views on games and game design. You’ll be relieved to hear that this ain’t that. I’ll need another few years to marinade anything that size. The Snare of the Tree, And… is, instead, a punchy little number that you should be able to absorb in a couple of days of commuting."
Alexis Kennedy is an award-winning game designer who has developed some of the most original and intelligent indie games of the last decade, including Fallen London, Sunless Sea and Cultist Simulator. He is also the author of Against Worldbuilding, and Other Provocations.
"I published Against Worldbuilding, and Other Provocations, and I got a good response. Readers also pointed out some things they’d prefer. Some wanted more original content. Some wanted more writing about the games I’ve made. One wanted “The Design of Everyday Things but for games.” A couple of helpful souls pointed out that the first edition would have benefited from page numbers.
This is a first stab at delivering some of those things. I can confirm the presence of page numbers. It’s all original content. Some of it is about the games I’ve made. And I originally intended this book to be a much longer weightier thing, a total encapsulation of my views on games and game design. You’ll be relieved to hear that this ain’t that. I’ll need another few years to marinade anything that size. The Snare of the Tree, And… is, instead, a punchy little number that you should be able to absorb in a couple of days of commuting."
- GenresGame DesignNonfiction
43 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 27, 2021
7 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Alexis Kennedy
4 books12 followersAlexis Kennedy is a writer, game designer and entrepreneur who’s founded two successful game development studios, and has been making innovative, evocative narrative video games for over a decade
At his first studio, Failbetter Games, he created the Fallen London franchise, beginning with the Fallen London browser game – a dark literary fantasy of life in a subterranean metropolis, which has now been running continuously for over ten years, with well over a million users.
At Failbetter, Alexis led development on a string of award-winning narrative games, in the Fallen London universe and for partners like Random House, BioWare, the BBC and Channel 4 – and a browser-based interactive story platform called StoryNexus.
Alexis’ final project at Failbetter was Sunless Sea, a game of loneliness, exploration and survival set on a night-bound archipelago in the Fallen London world, on which he served as creative director and lead writer. Sunless Sea was a critical and commercial success that sold almost half a million copies in the first year.
After growing Failbetter from a bedroom startup to a multi-million pound business, he left the studio after seven years to focus more directly on on experimental creative work. He took a ronin year to do guest-writing gigs for big names like BioWare, Telltale and Paradox, learning from very different approaches by very different studios; and then founded Weather Factory, a boutique studio specialising in narrative experiments, with Lottie Bevan. Weather Factory won the Best Microstudio award at the Develop Star Awards in 2019.
Weather Factory’s debut game was Cultist Simulator, a unique and intricate game of occult discovery described by press, variously, as ‘brilliantly written’, ‘deeply engrossing’, and ‘significant’. Cultist Simulator won several awards and was nominated for two BAFTAs.
Weather Factory’s next announced game is BOOK OF HOURS, a combat-free role-playing game set in an occult library.
Alexis speaks internationally on narrative, on game design, and on their overlaps.
At his first studio, Failbetter Games, he created the Fallen London franchise, beginning with the Fallen London browser game – a dark literary fantasy of life in a subterranean metropolis, which has now been running continuously for over ten years, with well over a million users.
At Failbetter, Alexis led development on a string of award-winning narrative games, in the Fallen London universe and for partners like Random House, BioWare, the BBC and Channel 4 – and a browser-based interactive story platform called StoryNexus.
Alexis’ final project at Failbetter was Sunless Sea, a game of loneliness, exploration and survival set on a night-bound archipelago in the Fallen London world, on which he served as creative director and lead writer. Sunless Sea was a critical and commercial success that sold almost half a million copies in the first year.
After growing Failbetter from a bedroom startup to a multi-million pound business, he left the studio after seven years to focus more directly on on experimental creative work. He took a ronin year to do guest-writing gigs for big names like BioWare, Telltale and Paradox, learning from very different approaches by very different studios; and then founded Weather Factory, a boutique studio specialising in narrative experiments, with Lottie Bevan. Weather Factory won the Best Microstudio award at the Develop Star Awards in 2019.
Weather Factory’s debut game was Cultist Simulator, a unique and intricate game of occult discovery described by press, variously, as ‘brilliantly written’, ‘deeply engrossing’, and ‘significant’. Cultist Simulator won several awards and was nominated for two BAFTAs.
Weather Factory’s next announced game is BOOK OF HOURS, a combat-free role-playing game set in an occult library.
Alexis speaks internationally on narrative, on game design, and on their overlaps.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 28, 2022
It is short and enjoyable but can be included if Against Worldbuilding ever gets a GOTY edition.
January 16, 2023
Short book on game design by one of the best writers and designers.
It's a fun little read.
It's a fun little read.
March 7, 2024
tengo todo el libro subrayado
July 30, 2024
Short and packed with flavor, wouldn’t expect less from Alexis Kennedy
July 23, 2022
Overall, the book offered interesting insight into potential pitfalls of the game development process but the overall lessons felt rather shallow for someone who is already working within games. I would have liked more substance from the book and not to feel left at the end like I learned a bunch of things that had problems in their implementation.
October 9, 2022
Some short but quick thoughts on game design. Its top-down, principles rather than practice, but was thought-provoking, which is what I was after.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews