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Product Description
Review
Game design is something of a black art. The trick to doing it well is retaining the black magic but training oneself to control it. There are a lot of books on game design out there, but "Game Design Workshop" is among the very few that develops a wizard rather than a drone.
-Ian Bogost, professor of digital media, the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-founder, Persuasive Games
-Ian Bogost, professor of digital media, the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-founder, Persuasive Games
Product Description
Master the craft of game design so you can create that elusive combination of challenge, competition, and interaction that players seek. This design workshop begins with an examination of the fundamental elements of game design; then puts you to work in prototyping, playtesting and redesigning your own games with exercises that teach essential design skills. Workshop exercises require no background in programming or artwork, releasing you from the intricacies of electronic game production, so you can develop a working understanding of the essentials of game design. It features a design methodology used in the USC Interactive Media program, a cutting edge program funded in part of Electronic Arts. It includes hands-on exercises that demonstrate key concepts, and the design methodology. It also includes insights from top industry game designers, including Noah Falstein, American McGee, and, Peter Molyneux.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book focuses on two things. One is prompting you as potential game designer to become very analytical about games that exist already, breaking down what works and what doesn't and why. The second is an iterative approach to game design, starting with a paper version, playtesting early and often.
It contains everything you need to start designing your own games, learning how to balance and polish them, plus interesting interviews with people working professionally in the field. If your focus is actually making original games rather than studying them academically or learning more about them as a player, this is a very useful book.
It contains everything you need to start designing your own games, learning how to balance and polish them, plus interesting interviews with people working professionally in the field. If your focus is actually making original games rather than studying them academically or learning more about them as a player, this is a very useful book.
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent book that covers all the topics that you might need. It is written in a style that can be fully understood by someone new to the topic of game design. Well worth purchasing.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
13 reviews
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
An absolute must-have for aspiring game designers
26 Mar 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The top rating is well-deserved -- this book is both thorough and well-written. Fullerton provides in-depth discussion and a progressive approach to introducing the material. It begins with the absolute basics, discussing the basics of where game ideas come from, and ends with a treatise on the inner-workings of the game publishing industry.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about game development, as a trade, and especially for anyone looking to do it as a profession.
There were so many things to love about this book, but three things really stand out in my mind as being particularly awesome:
1. The "Designer Perspective" sidebars (insight into how some famous game designers got started and some behind-the-scenes knowledge about the industry)
2. The focus on iterative-design (prototype and test early and often)
3. The Exercises (real application exercises that hold your hand through the development of games, and of yourself as a career designer)
There were basically only two things I *didn't* like about this book, and they are purely circumstantial.
The first thing is that this book is college-textbook dense. Seriously. The page-count is just shy of 450 pages, and each page is divided into two columns, with a relatively small font-size. It was a beast to get through. There were many times when finishing the book felt like a daunting task, particularly towards the end.
The second thing that I wished was different was that the book's focus changes almost completely to digital game development (video games). The first half of the book was about basic game development, and so it could apply to either tabletop games or digital games; but as the book progresses, it makes a clear shift towards digital game development.
Realistically, this is not surprising -- the video game industry is gigantic, with revenues exceeding Box Office sales, and it keeps growing. The market for tabletop games is vastly smaller, domestically, and although it enjoys a much larger market share in Europe, particularly Germany, it is still comparatively diminuitive. So this particular nitpick is purely arbitrary, on my part -- I don't begrudge the authors for their decision regarding the content.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about game development, as a trade, and especially for anyone looking to do it as a profession.
There were so many things to love about this book, but three things really stand out in my mind as being particularly awesome:
1. The "Designer Perspective" sidebars (insight into how some famous game designers got started and some behind-the-scenes knowledge about the industry)
2. The focus on iterative-design (prototype and test early and often)
3. The Exercises (real application exercises that hold your hand through the development of games, and of yourself as a career designer)
There were basically only two things I *didn't* like about this book, and they are purely circumstantial.
The first thing is that this book is college-textbook dense. Seriously. The page-count is just shy of 450 pages, and each page is divided into two columns, with a relatively small font-size. It was a beast to get through. There were many times when finishing the book felt like a daunting task, particularly towards the end.
The second thing that I wished was different was that the book's focus changes almost completely to digital game development (video games). The first half of the book was about basic game development, and so it could apply to either tabletop games or digital games; but as the book progresses, it makes a clear shift towards digital game development.
Realistically, this is not surprising -- the video game industry is gigantic, with revenues exceeding Box Office sales, and it keeps growing. The market for tabletop games is vastly smaller, domestically, and although it enjoys a much larger market share in Europe, particularly Germany, it is still comparatively diminuitive. So this particular nitpick is purely arbitrary, on my part -- I don't begrudge the authors for their decision regarding the content.
16 of 22 people found the following review helpful
My Search Has Ended!
28 Feb 2008
Format:Paperback
This book is honestly an answer to my prayers! I'm using the first half of this superb book to remodel my introductory game design class & after school game design club. The included exercises are definitely geared toward capturing the attention of the type of kids I want to attract to my program. I think I'm going to have to buy a 2nd book as my son is using the last half of the book to develop and market his senior game project and plan for his Indie game company :)
9 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Thoughtful analysis of a complicated industry
3 Nov 2008
Format:Paperback
This book is really phenomenol. I am a two decade veteran from the industry and only somewhat recently stumbled across Fullerton's work. In this book you will encounter a rich analysis of the industry that covers various insight from numerous perspectives. Her writing style is very engaging while also being analytical; providing observations about common topics expressed in ways I had not heard before - or at least put so eloquently. I'm a big fan of the book.
So why only 4 stars and not 5? I like to think that 5 stars for anything just requires excellence that is at a whole different level. A Pixar Animation Studios "5 stars" level - if you know what I'm saying. My one complaint about the book would be that embedded within the book are exercises forcing the reader - I should say strongly encouraging the reader - to partake in applying the knowledge; or more fairly sometimes learning about the industry through observation of real-world product. I think this is all very good to be honest. But the consequence of this is that often if the reader doesn't have time to devote to these exercises (or isn't home while reading), they might feel compelled to delay reading until they can execute said exercises. Or maybe it's just me? Since I read a lot of my books during my commute on the bus, I often find myself struggling to get through this book in its entirety. Probably most people would just blow off the exercises but then again I think you'd miss a lot of Fullerton's message if you did that.
So that's why only 4 of 5 stars. But really, it's my commute-on-the-bus' fault - not the book's. I strongly suggest anyone interested in learning more about the process of Game Design to check out this literary work. There are some great "real-world" stories from other people in the industry so it provides a well rounded view and I have yet to find a book that covers so much interesting ground so effortlessly. Now, back to my exercises...
So why only 4 stars and not 5? I like to think that 5 stars for anything just requires excellence that is at a whole different level. A Pixar Animation Studios "5 stars" level - if you know what I'm saying. My one complaint about the book would be that embedded within the book are exercises forcing the reader - I should say strongly encouraging the reader - to partake in applying the knowledge; or more fairly sometimes learning about the industry through observation of real-world product. I think this is all very good to be honest. But the consequence of this is that often if the reader doesn't have time to devote to these exercises (or isn't home while reading), they might feel compelled to delay reading until they can execute said exercises. Or maybe it's just me? Since I read a lot of my books during my commute on the bus, I often find myself struggling to get through this book in its entirety. Probably most people would just blow off the exercises but then again I think you'd miss a lot of Fullerton's message if you did that.
So that's why only 4 of 5 stars. But really, it's my commute-on-the-bus' fault - not the book's. I strongly suggest anyone interested in learning more about the process of Game Design to check out this literary work. There are some great "real-world" stories from other people in the industry so it provides a well rounded view and I have yet to find a book that covers so much interesting ground so effortlessly. Now, back to my exercises...
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