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What Makes a Good Game? | Eric Zimmerman | TED

What’s the best way to make a project more playful? Game designer Eric Zimmerman has a counterintuitive suggestion: a few good rules. Drawing on his experience making everything from video games and tabletop classics to museum-scale installations, he breaks down how creative play comes to life — and how to harness the power of constraints…

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What’s the best way to make a project more playful? Game designer Eric Zimmerman has a counterintuitive suggestion: a few good rules. Drawing on his experience making everything from video games and tabletop classics to museum-scale installations, he breaks down how creative play comes to life — and how to harness the power of constraints to create endless fun. (Recorded at Play@TED on May 14, 2026)

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9 Comments

  1. @Morit太陽Junichiro月

    October 20, 2026 at 11:07 am

    Hacking humans using systems or weak electrical currents??

  2. @Gpch1728

    October 20, 2026 at 11:21 am

    I can’t believe you’re called Eric Zimmerman 😂 I love that name (Megan Maxwell’s fan)

  3. @meanderinoranges

    October 20, 2026 at 11:55 am

    I made it 6 seconds in. Nope.

    • @suckmysyrup

      October 20, 2026 at 1:19 pm

      All he said was “Hello, everybody. I’m Eric” what happened?

  4. @leveling.up.consistently

    October 20, 2026 at 12:44 pm

    I could tell Eric would be a lot of fun to hang out with! ☺️ This was fun!

  5. @franchermann1557

    October 20, 2026 at 12:53 pm

    He made dinnerdash, gamestar mechanic and junkbot -.- what a good take about games😂 Holly Molly floparusky

  6. @suckmysyrup

    October 20, 2026 at 1:17 pm

    Interesting topic and I agree but I don’t feel like I learned anything. Jack White said years ago that constraints drive creativity. Saying “you have all the time in the world, all the colours in the pallette kills creativity.” If you have no constraints, there’s nothing to push off of.

  7. @fatballsakagrandpa3697

    October 20, 2026 at 6:23 pm

    What makes a good game? as in Xbox or PC game? I would say, that when gays stay out of making them.

  8. @M.AskariYT

    October 20, 2026 at 9:25 pm

    He made dinnerdash

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