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Good game design books?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by TylerPerry, Sep 30, 2014.

  1. TylerPerry

    TylerPerry

    Joined:
    May 29, 2011
    Posts:
    5,577
    I'm wondering if ya'll know of any good game design books? Some that I've been looking at are :
    • A theory of fun.
    • The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses. (And cards).
    • Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design.
    • Game Design Workshop, Second Edition: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games.
    • Challenges for Game Designers.
    • Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design.
    • Art of Computer Game Design.
    • Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World.
    • The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design.
    • The Complete Wargames Handbook: How to Play, Design, and Find Them.
    • GAME DEVELOPMENT ESSENTIALS: AN INTRODUCTION.
    • Game Feel.
    • Rules of play.

    Any others or opinions on any of these?
    (I have those last two but haven't read them yet)
     
    TylerPerry, Sep 30, 2014
    #1

  2. Not_Sure

    Not_Sure

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2011
    Posts:
    3,541
    The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses is fantastic.

    This is going the opposite direction, but Unity Hot Shot is a completely broken mess. The projects in the book don't even work. Terrible. Just terrible.
     
    Not_Sure, Sep 30, 2014
    #2

  3. HoboMechanistic

    HoboMechanistic

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2013
    Posts:
    20
    I just finished reading The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses that you already mentioned. It's a little bit wishy washy but then most design is from what I can tell. being from a software engineering background I found this book very useful when approaching Game Design problems. As fun isn't really a huge issue with standard software systems.

    I really like the approach the book takes with Lenses, as I can now work on my design and then use all the lenses in the book as a reference to make sure Im not missing anything important. I really found the bit about adding emergence to your game to be very helpful as I was struggling to figure out how to make my game complex enough to be immersive.

    Rather than just focus on game design problems specifically it gives a good foundation about how to think and plan when approaching a game design.

    Apart from that the other books you also already have covered it seems. A designer friend recommended A theory of Fun and Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design to me but I've not read those yet.
     
    HoboMechanistic, Sep 30, 2014
    #3

  4. Taschenschieber

    Taschenschieber

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2014
    Posts:
    238
    I've read Rules of Play. It is very theoretical, but a good read nonetheless, and includes several example boardgames created for this book by designers like Richard Garfield (Magic, King of Tokyo) with an essay on the design process. Those are easily the most interesting part of the whole book.

    Also, I like the basic idea of Meaningful Play.
     
    Taschenschieber, Sep 30, 2014
    #4

  5. Gigiwoo

    Gigiwoo

    Joined:
    Mar 16, 2011
    Posts:
    2,981
    Gigiwoo, Oct 1, 2014
    #5
    Meltdown and TylerPerry like this.

  6. Frednaar

    Frednaar

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2010
    Posts:
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    Frednaar, Oct 2, 2014
    #6