Rules of Play (Zimmerman, Salen) and Art of Game Design: a Book of Lenses(Schell) come to mind as resources that cover this sort of "comprehensive" study. In m

Rules of Play (Zimmerman, Salen) and Art of Game Design: a Book of Lenses(Schell) come to mind as resources that cover this sort of "comprehensive" study. In my opinion, there isn't a great deal of direct design information that can be gleaned from compendiums, though, even though they have surface appeal and can bring you up to speed on surface trends. It's equivalent to trying to do artistic work by only using "how-to" guides and not other forms of reference: the magic happens in adapting from one medium to another and developing the needed technique along the way, not from strenuously studying an existing technique because it's fashionable to do so. e.g. if you make a game that has "polished Mario style movement" and "rock paper scissors combat," you have made something totally familiar and predictable. It can be reasonably interesting during the game session but still fail to attract attention or hold anyone for the long term. A great of the interest is in not knowing for sure that the game will reduce to a "predictable and fair" design trope like RPS.