Rules of Play debuted in 2003 and is praised as the first textbook to take a theoretical, rather than how-to approach to game design. It is Zimmerman's best-known academic achievement. The Vancouver Film School's game design program gives free copies to incoming students. At a recent conference in Israel, two students approached Zimmerman to sign their books.
There is a downside to all the recognition. As the public face of Gamelab, people assume Zimmerman's authorship on everything the company does. He often explains that Fortugno was the lead designer of Diner Dash, their most popular game to date. Fortugno left Gamelab earlier this year to start his own company with Margaret Wallace. Though he had no qualms with Gamelab, Fortugno realized he was capable of making executive decisions and being a public face on his own.
"Eric is a hard figure to avoid, and he's a very talented game designer," Fortugno said. "He does a lot of speaking and does a lot of self promotion, and so it's hard ... to be outside of Eric's shadow."
But Zimmerman does the best he can to deflect that. He's quick to correct mistaken authorship, and when he can't attend a speaking engagement, he'll try to pass it on to another Gamelab staffer. Greg Costikyan, founder of New York-based Manifesto Games, recalls panels where Zimmerman went out of his way to give Peter Lee a shot at speaking instead. "The problem there is Peter Lee is a hardworking guy but he's kind of a behind the scenes guy," Costikyan said. It makes sense for Zimmerman to take the lead, because he's so intense.
This year, Zimmerman was involved in a half dozen GDC presentations, panels and lectures. His hallmark event, the Game Design Challenge, pits high-profile designers such as Will Wright and Peter Molyneux against each other to theorize a game based on an unusual concept, such as the poetry of Emily Dickinson or a needle and thread control interface.
"He has a sort of showmanship, a sort of flamboyant personality," said game theorist Jesper Juul. "If the party isn't happening, he'll invent some sort of game where everyone has to say something strange or everyone has to jump around."
Juul said Zimmerman's personality has enabled him to know practically everyone in the games industry. "For Eric, it's not the six degrees of Kevin Bacon, it's the one degree of Eric Zimmerman," he said. "He just enjoys talking to people."
And yet Zimmerman views this simply as a means to an end. "So we become well-known, we have a better reputation, people want to work with us or invest in us, people write articles about us and that helps our profile. That's not an end to me," he said. "I don't really care about that stuff, what I care about is having an impact on the culture of games."
At least he's an honest hustler.
Jared Newman is a freelance contributor to The Escapist.
