FunForThePlayer

The game designer must remember that the ultimate goal is fun for the player -- not fun for the designer, or (in ComputerGames) fun for the computer.

This rule comes from Sid_Meier?, by way of Better_By_Design?, December 2002.

Warren_Spector? in Game_Design:_SotS? as similar comments about AI - and by extension, game systems. These things are "[...]there to to challenge players, not defeat them, to make them sweat but, ultimately, to make them feel cool and powerful." (emphasis mine)

In the same book, Jean-Francois_Malouin? suggests "fun over realism" - sometimes it enhances the game to take things over top instead of have a realistic reaction.

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