Bernie DeKoven
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Bernard Louis De Koven or DeKoven (October 15, 1941 – March 24, 2018) was an American
game designer Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...
,
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,
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and fun theorist. He is most notable for his book ''The Well Played Game'', for his contributions to the New Games Foundation,Pearce, Celia; Tracy Fullerton; Janine Fron; and Jacquelyn Ford Morie. "Sustainable Play: Toward A New Games Movement For The Digital Age." ''
Games and Culture ''Games and Culture'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the field of culture and media studies, specializing on the socio-cultural, political, and economic dimensions of gaming. The editor-in-chief is Tanya Krzywinska (Falmouth Univer ...
''. Vol.2, No.3. Pp.261-278. July 2007.
his pioneering work in computer game design, and for his long-running web site, ''deepFUN.com''.


Career

In 1968, De Koven began work on his Interplay Curriculum for the School District of Philadelphia. The curriculum was published in 1971, and a second edition printed in 1974.De Koven, Bernie; Silberman, Melvin L. ed. "Junkyard Sports: Learning Through Creative Play." ''The Handbook of Experiential Learning''.
John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Publishing, publishing company that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company was founded in 1807 and pr ...
. 15 March 2007.
In 1971, De Koven and his family established The Games Preserve, a retreat center for the study of games and play located in Eastern Pennsylvania.Weldon, Laura Grace.
Bernie DeKoven: Designing Deep Fun Into Games & Other Life Necessities
" ''
Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...
''. 15 February 2013.
In 1975, De Koven first became involved with the New Games Foundation.De Koven, Bernie.
Here's Bernie
" DeepFun.com. 2013.
In 1976, De Koven designed Playday on the Parkway for the city of Philadelphia - the culminating event in Philadelphia's Bicentennial celebration. In 1978, De Koven authored ''The Well-Played Game'', which ''
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'' later called "wonderful ... a must for prospective game designers". In 1982, ''BYTE''s reviewer called his strategy game ''Ricochet'' (coauthored with Jeff Connelly and published by
Automated Simulations Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and video game publisher active in the late 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded in 1978 as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman (game designer), Jon Freeman, publishing a series of tact ...
) "easily the most original game I've seen this year ... a game-player's delight", and stated that it "expresses many of the ideals" of ''The Well-Played Game''. That year De Koven was interviewed by ''
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'' magazine concerning the future of computer gaming; he accurately predicted the advent of games using motion control similar to the
Kinect Kinect is a discontinued line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft and first released in 2010. The devices generally contain RGB color model, RGB cameras, and Thermographic camera, infrared projectors and detectors that map dep ...
, as well as
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and related game distribution systems, stating that networking "will greatly increase the availability of games. Instead of having to buy each game, users will be able to download more and more complex games as networks become more popular." Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, in their 2003 game design textbook '' Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals'', extensively reference De Koven's ''The Well-Played Game''. Christopher Noxon's interview of De Koven was featured in the 2006 book '' Rejuvenile.'' His role as a professional "fun coach" is emphasized, as is De Koven's involvement with the New Games Movement of the mid-1970s, and his later work with the
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in
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. De Koven has worked with major toy and game manufacturers to design and develop new products. Notably, he has partnered with LEGO on the development of their LEGO Game System. Additionally, De Koven has designed award-winning games for
Ideal Toy Company Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Betsy ...
,
Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—includin ...
, CBS Software and
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Toys. In September 2011, De Koven was a
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speaker at the 2011 Digital Games Research Association Conference ("Think Design Play"). His talk, "Playing Well Together," described some of the underlying principles of New Games and his book, ''The Well-Played Game''. De Koven was a lifetime member of The Association for the Study of Play.De Koven, Bernie. "The Ball." ''International Journal of Play''. Vol.1, Iss.3. Pp.332-335. 2012. In spring of 2017, De Koven notified his blog followers that he had terminal cancer and only about one year left to live, asking them to spread the joy of play. He died of cancer on 24 March 2018 at the age of 76.


Awards

* 2006 Ifill-Raynolds award for "outstanding achievement in the field of fun" from the North American Simulation and Gaming Association


Books / publications

*
Interplay: a curriculum for elementary school children
', Office of Policy Planning and Development, School District of Philadelphia, 1971 () * "The Play Community" in The New Games Book, 1976 () * ''The Well-Played Game'', 1978, updated edition 2002 (), MIT Press edition August, 2013 () * ''Connected Executives: A Strategic Communications Plan'', 1986 () * ''Junkyard Sports'', 2004 () * ''Great Games for Big Activity Balls'' (with Todd Strong), 2009 () * ''A Playful Path'', 2013 () * ''The Infinite Playground'', 2020, with Celia Pearce and Holly Gramazio (editors), ()


Games and interactive media

* ''Ricochet'' (1981): one of the first
abstract strategy games Abstract may refer to: *"Abstract", a 2017 episode of the animated television series ''Adventure Time (season 9)#ep262, Adventure Time'' * Abstract (album), ''Abstract'' (album), 1962 album by Joe Harriott * Abstract algebra, sets with specific op ...
for computersDe Koven, Bernard.
Ricochet
'. Automated Simulations. Accessed: 8/9/2013.
by
Automated Simulations Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and video game publisher active in the late 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded in 1978 as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman (game designer), Jon Freeman, publishing a series of tact ...
(designer), E. Connelley, programmer * '' Alien Garden'' (1982): one of the first computer
art game An art game (or arthouse game) is a work of Interactive art, interactive new media art, new media digital art, digital software art as well as a member of the "art game" subgenre of the serious game, serious video game. The term "art game" was ...
s. Released by
Automated Simulations Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and video game publisher active in the late 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded in 1978 as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman (game designer), Jon Freeman, publishing a series of tact ...
. (designer; programmed by
Jaron Lanier Jaron Zepel Lanier (, born May 3, 1960) is an American computer scientist, visual artist, computer philosophy writer, technologist, futurist, and composer of contemporary classical music. Considered a founder of the field of virtual reality, La ...
)() * ''Light Waves''Wiswell, Phil. "User Views: New Computer Games - Lightwaves." '' Enter''. Issue 15 (Vol.2, No.5). P.41. March 1985. (1984): computer game by Children's Computer Workshop (designer; prototype by
Dave Winer Dave Winer (born May 2, 1955, in Queens, New York City) is an American software developer, entrepreneur, and writer who resides in New York City. Winer is noted for his contributions to outliners, scripting, content management, and web service ...
) * ''Junkyard Games'' (2008) business simulation game published by HRDQ (designer; manual by Ron Roberts)


References


External links

*
Bernie De Koven on Academia.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Koven, Bernie 1941 births 2018 deaths Writers from Appleton, Wisconsin American non-fiction writers American social sciences writers American humorists American video game designers American video game developers