About the Author

Chris Bateman is a game designer, outsider philosopher and author, best known for the games Discworld Noir and Ghost Master, and the books Game Writing: NarrativeSkills for Videogames, 21st Century Game Design and Beyond Game Design. He has worked on more than thirty digital game projects over the last fifteen years, primarily with his acclaimed consultancy International Hobo.Graduating with a Masters degree in Artificial Intelligence/Cognitive Science, he has since pursued highly-acclaimed independent research into how and why people play games. In 2009, he was invited to sit on the IEEE's Player Satisfaction Modelling task force, in recognition for his role in establishing this research domain. His most recent player model, BrainHex, is based upon neurobiological principles published in his paper 'The Neurobiology of Play', and the BrainHex test has been taken by more than 75,000 people.Chris has also travelled the world studying religious practices and beliefs, and has taken part in everything from Native American sweat lodges to Pagan solstice celebrations, as well as visiting Buddhist and Shinto shrines in Japan, and witnessing traditional tribal religions in Africa whilst visiting the Sahel Reserve near the Sahara desert.His blog Only a Game (http://onlyagame.typepad.com) deals with both philosophy and digital game theory, and contains a prolific array of articles, many of which have been featured elsewhere. He is considered to be one of the major commentators on the videogame industry, an expert on player satisfaction modelling, and a proficient philosopher.