The Reverse Design series looks at all of the design decisions that went into classic video games. This is the second installment in the Reverse Design series, looking at Chrono Trigger. Written in a readable format, it is broken down into four sections examining some of the most important topics to the game:

2. Analyzes how the designers use gameplay to preserve and embellish the surprises in the plot




4. Explains how Chrono Trigger is really two different games: the Tragedy of the Entity and the Comedy of the Sages.




6. Highlights how the two games differ in terms of tone, linearity, player choice and in the pacing of their content.

Key Features

Comprehensive definitions of key concepts and terms, introducing the reader to the basic knowledge about the study of RPG design

Summary of historical context of Chrono Trigger how it came to be, how it influenced other games, and how it manipulated players through expectations they had about the RPG genre

Extensive collections of data and data visualizations explaining how Chrono Trigger’s systems work and how the game’s challenges increase in complexity as the player gets deeper into the content