An argument that production tools shape the aesthetics and political economy of games as an expressive medium.
In Making Games, Stefan Werning considers the role of tools (primarily but not exclusively software), their design affordances, and the role they play as sociotechnical actors. Drawing on a wide variety of case studies, Werning argues that production tools shape the aesthetics and political economy of games as an expressive medium. He frames game-making as a (meta)game in itself and shows that tools, like games, have their own "procedural rhetoric" and should not always be conceived simply in terms of optimization and best practices.

On Thinking Playfully
Introduction
Chapter I: Making Sense of Tools
Chapter II: Tool Essays: From Tool Fandom and Aesthetic Ecosystems to the Evolution of Tool Affordances
Chapter III: A Call for Evocative Tool Design: Game Creation as...
Acknowledgements
Notes
References
Index