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Like movies, music, and novels, one way to grow as a game designer is to immerse yourself in the respective entertainment medium.
You are reading: Books on game design
Do you want to be a better writer?
read a lot of books.
Are you an aspiring musician or film director?
don’t stop listening to music and watching movies, preferably what people consider the best of its kind.
becoming a better game designer is no different.
You should be playing, both good and bad, to study what works and what doesn’t.
However, for a long time, the big difference between video games and the other forms of entertainment mentioned above was the number of books available to help future game designers.
Things have changed now that there are many excellent game design books that provide more insight into what it takes to create games.
we hope you find the perfect one for you as you browse our list of the 10 best video game design books (in no particular order).
selection of books listed:
- first-hand experience
- second-hand experience
- reviews (amazon, goodreads, peer recommendations, etc…)
top 10 books on game design
the art of game design: a lens book
The Art of Game Design is a unique book that emphasizes the study of game design from several different perspectives.
By calling these perspectives “lenses,” the author covers basic game design principles that are useful for games of all genres and platforms.
The reader is then asked to consider challenging design questions (over 100) that arise from looking at a game from a specific perspective, forcing you to think about how other people would view your game.
The book also walks you through the game design process as it breaks down each step a designer must take to build their ideas.
The author, Jesse Schell, is an award-winning Disney online game designer and once served as president of the International Game Developers Association.
In other words, you can rest easy knowing that this book was written by someone who not only has a lot of experience in game design, but was also very good at it.
game design workshop
The book also comes with many references to successful games along with helpful illustrations that clearly present design methods and techniques.
The author, Tracy Fullerton, is a game designer who runs the Game Innovation Lab in the Interactive Media Division at the USC School of Motion Picture Arts.
the definitive guide to writing and designing video games
The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design is a must-have for any aspiring game designers who also see themselves deeply involved in the storytelling side of development.
Readers will learn the advanced techniques and knowledge required to integrate a story into any game to create an engaging and emotional experience.
Topics covered by the book include story writing, game script, game bible, design document, and technical content of your game.
The authors are flint dille and john zurr, two experienced game developers who have also added samples of their own work for readers to learn from.
level up! the guide to great game design
Level Up! is perhaps one of the best choices on this list to have as a first game design book.
The author offers many engaging cartoons that help present his ideas in an accessible and instructive way.
topics like:
- mobile and console systems
- monetization
- design document creation
- and more are covered
While Scott Rogers doesn’t have the same relevant professional experience as the authors of other game design books, he does an amazing job of walking readers through game development from start to finish.
If you want a game design book that trades extensive theoretical language for delightful illustrations, look no further.
game rules: fundamentals of game design
If there’s one book you can expect to be assigned while studying in a college game design program, it’s Rules of Play.
This thick and somewhat intimidating book is one of the best sources of knowledge when it comes to concepts and methodologies for anything from board games and video games to even sports.
Like “the art of game design,” readers will look at games through a number of perspectives, such as games as a narrative medium, a site of cultural resistance, an emergency and information system, and more.
The authors, Salen and Zimmerman, are experienced game developers who have served as professors at leading institutions such as the DePaul School of Design, MIT, and Parsons.
a fun theory for game design
The complete opposite of our previous entry in terms of size, A Theory of Fun for Game Design is a small but effective game design book that challenges readers to figure out why games appeal to human beings.
Colourful full-page illustrations are included, as well as an in-depth look at modern video games to discover why some are boring and others can be enjoyed for years.
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Raph Koster, the author of the book, is a veteran game designer who has worked on blockbusters like Star Wars Galaxies and Ultima Online and served as a creative executive at major companies like Disney Playdom and Sony Online.
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the gamification of the learning and instruction field book
Although something of a ‘sequel’ to an earlier book, this Fieldbook is nonetheless an excellent read all on its own.
offers a step-by-step approach to using the ideas and techniques from the first gamification book with examples, worksheets, and other helpful learning tools.
The book’s authors are Karl Kapp, Professor of Educational Technology at Bloomsburg University, Lucas Blair, Founder of Serious Game Studio Little Bird Games, and Rich Mesch, a 25-year expert in the field of experiential and contextualized learning.
game feel: a game design guide to virtual feel
A unique entry on this list, Game Feel attempts to give readers a look at how game designers create “feel”, the meta-sensation of a player’s involvement with a game.
Topics such as human perception, sound, the use of metaphors and auxiliary indicators are covered to help reveal their importance in creating a compelling digital world.
There is also a website designed to complement the book by providing toolkits that demonstrate the importance of the virtual sensing components.
game feel also concludes with an interesting interpretation of some of the possible developments of game feel that have not yet been used by developers.
game programming patterns
Game Programming Patterns is a book we’d obviously only recommend to aspiring game designers who want to break into the industry as a programmer.
This popular book not only motivates readers to complete their games, but also provides information on game loops, scripting engines, design patterns, and other technical areas.
This book was written by Robert Nystrom, a programmer with twenty years of experience.
He has released titles on major platforms such as ds, gamecube, pc, xbox, ps2 and xbox 360.
challenges for game designers
This fantastic book does more than cover game design techniques and methods- it addresses how to actually grow as a game designer and get better with every project.
As the title suggests, readers are faced with challenges that offer hands-on learning without the need for artistic or programming skills.
challenges for game designers was written by brenda brathwaite, an award-winning game developer with more than 30 years of experience in the industry, and ian schreiber, a professor of game design at ohio university who also helped code and design various published game titles.
meet the author: dustin tyler [updated June 16, 2022]
Although initially focused on web development, Dustin was introduced to game design by a friend after college and was immediately drawn to the combination of technical skill and creativity required to create an amazing game.
Since then, he has used his skills as a web developer and his desire to help others by creating a resource where expert game designers can share what they have learned with the next generation of aspiring game creators.
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