Let's Play Press

Understanding Kids, Play, and Interactive Design
How To Create Games Children Love

by Mark Schlichting

Understanding Kids, Play, and Interactive Design is a comprehensive guide that offers magical techniques to create award-winning titles for kids. Learn the best-kept secrets of the masters, from understanding ages and stages and how that applies to design, identifying and using over 20 play patterns, to adding delightful audio, humor, and the magic of surprise. This book offers everything you need to know to create joyful experiences that keep kids coming back again and again for more

With a full color interior, this book has hundreds of photos and cartoons that illustrate the concepts and add humor, insight, and interest.

ISBN-13: 978-0367075255, MSRP $79.95, 412 illustrated color pages, CRC Press, 09/11/2019.

“Mark Schlichting has created this marvelous book.
By understanding and thoughtfully explaining what children do in the Kingdom of Play, and how and why they do it, Mark has provided a wonderful resource to those of us who would create fresh, invigorating playthings.”

— Jesse Schell
CEO, Schell Games,
Professor, Carnegie Mellon University

“I don’t rate books, but if i did it would be 5 stars. If you like Mark’s talks you’ll love this book—very easy to read and full of nuggets based on real examples. This is the best work in the space to date. ”

— Warren Buckleitner, Ph.D.
Editor, Children’s Technology Review

“This book needs to be owned by every developer of children’s interactive media. It is the most practical detailing I’ve ever seen of how children’s developmental needs and capabilities translate to specific design elements of a piece of media

Full disclosure—I’ve known Mark for a long time, but I’ve been waiting for a book like this much longer.”

—David Kleeman
SVP, Dubit Limited

“Mark’s book combines deep wisdom about kids at play; comprehensive, clear understanding of play and “play science;” and the manifold practical routes to interactive game design. It is the magnum opus of a creative lifetime, full of usable details framed in engaging and visually captivating formats. It belongs on every kids’ play/game designer’s bedside table.”

— Stuart Brown, M.D.
Founder and President,
The National Institute for Play

“Children play in order to have fun, not to learn; but learning is the side effect that, from an evolutionary perspective, is play’s purpose. Mark reveals a remarkably sophisticated and accessible understanding of play, learning, and children. This book will go a long way toward connecting game designers to the minds of children.”

— Peter Gray, Ph.D.
Professor of Developmental Psychology, Boston College

“For over 25 years, Mark Schlichting has been an indispensable voice in children’s media. In this book, Mark sets out the principles that have animated his work, starting with the deepest respect for the power and passion children bring to their play, and following up with a fierce determination to create digital spaces where that play flourishes.”

— Scot Osterweil
Creative Director, The Education Arcade, MIT

“TeachersWithApps has had the honor and privilege of working directly with Mark on several projects. He brings a wealth of knowledge, insight, and passion to everything he touches. Every page of Mark’s new book brings another ‘aha moment.’ This book is the bible and a must read for anyone involved in any area related to children, education, and technology.”

— Jayne Clare
Co-Founder, TeachersWithApps

“Mark’s book is a fantastic resource for interactive designers and others who want to understand play and learning. Mark is a master creator of great interactive experiences. He’s dazzled us for decades with his really funny, endearing products. Now we can learn how he does it. Don’t miss this book. It’s a classic that teachers and others should have.”

—Ann H. McCormick
Founder of The Learning Company,
Co-Founder of Learning Circle Kids

“I had it on my night stand and picked it up and couldn’t stop reading it until I was finished!.”

—Tonda Bunge Sellers
Producer, Digital Kids Media

Book

Harry and the Haunted House

by Mark Schlichting

Meet Harry D. Rabbit and his friends as they go on a spooky adventure. When they cautiously explore a “haunted” house to retrieve a lost baseball, they have several hair-raising experiences, and in the end learn something about themselves. This is a great book for Halloween.

With a full color interior, this book has hundreds of photos and cartoons that illustrate the concepts and add humor, insight, and interest.

ISBN-13: 978-0996918503, MSRP $9.95, 26 fully illustrated color pages, Let’s Play Press, 10/25/2015.

App

Harry Comes to Life!

Developed from the original award-winning Living Books collection, these engaging storybook Apps are insanely fun, interactive, and timeless.

You can explore a highly animated and interactive version of Harry and the Haunted House. The story comes with hundreds of active hot spots and in multiple languages.

Available for Apple iOS, Mac OS, Android, and Windows.

Book
App

Mark Schlichting
Author

Mark Schlichting is a passionate promoter for play. From the time he was young, Mark loved telling stories, drawing pictures, and wanted to play inside the pages of picture books.

He grew up to become a pioneer of the multimedia industry, an expert in children’s interactive design, and is probably best known as the creator of Brøderbund’s Living Books CD-ROM series. He has created and consulted on many award winning designs, from children’s storybooks to interactive apps.

In 2000 Mark founded NoodleWorks Interactive, a creative consulting and production company specializing in innovative design for children. In November 2011, NoodleWorks released its’ first iPad app, a word toy called Noodle Words. His own multilingual storybook, Harry and The Haunted House, was re-released as a Wanderful interactive storybook app in October of 2012, and the print version was re-released in October of 2015.