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100 Principles of Game Design
Game designers spend many hours solving design problems but are often unaware that many of the problems they are solving have been encountered and solved countless times before. The best solutions may still require additional steps but there are common principles to many of the approaches that game designers can use for inspiration.
Written by a team of instructors at a top games school in the U.S., " Game Design Principles" is the first one-stop reference book for seasoned designers or beginning design students to turn to when the going gets tough, or any time they need a little inspiration to solve a problem.
These universal, general design principles are gleaned from fields as disparate as architecture, neuroscience, and marketing, and brought together and presented in ways game designers can apply directly to games. The book focuses on finite, individual principles rather than broader ideas and approaches. Richly designed with infographics, illustrations, and schematics, each principle is easy to understand and memorable.
"Game Design Principles" is specifically designed to itemize, describe, and explain the principles behind the process of designing video games. You'll carry it with you as an essential guide on your game design adventure.
Written by a team of instructors at a top games school in the U.S., " Game Design Principles" is the first one-stop reference book for seasoned designers or beginning design students to turn to when the going gets tough, or any time they need a little inspiration to solve a problem.
These universal, general design principles are gleaned from fields as disparate as architecture, neuroscience, and marketing, and brought together and presented in ways game designers can apply directly to games. The book focuses on finite, individual principles rather than broader ideas and approaches. Richly designed with infographics, illustrations, and schematics, each principle is easy to understand and memorable.
"Game Design Principles" is specifically designed to itemize, describe, and explain the principles behind the process of designing video games. You'll carry it with you as an essential guide on your game design adventure.
240 pages, CD-ROM
First published December 14, 2012
18 people are currently reading
388 people want to read
About the author
Wendy Despain
8 books3 followersAnne Toole is a WGA-nominated writer for computer games, one-hour television, comics, and short fiction. Anne started her career writing for DAYS OF OUR LIVES, then became Head Writer for a game based on the STARGATE SG-1 series. She's written a number of game titles, including the dark fantasy RPG, THE WITCHER, which earned her a Writers Guild nomination. Anne has spoken extensively on games and entertainment and contributed to books from the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). "
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 14, 2013
This book is terrific. Alongside
The Art of Game Design
, this is one of my go-to books whenever I'm stuck, or just need some inspiration. Structured like a reference book, there's a lot in here I was familiar with, a lot I wanted to know more about, some things I wouldn't have really thought about in the context of games, and best of all, some things I thought about and never had the right words for.
It's great. I love it. My only gripe is not really the fault of the authors. I think this book is overpriced at $59.99. I suspect the publisher drove the price up by putting in lots of needless stock photography. There are several helpful images in the book, including some original artwork, but a lot of the principles really didn't need an illustration. They each have one anyway. That complaint aside, I still think I will get my money's worth for what I paid. I'm glad to have this tool handy on my bookshelf.
It's great. I love it. My only gripe is not really the fault of the authors. I think this book is overpriced at $59.99. I suspect the publisher drove the price up by putting in lots of needless stock photography. There are several helpful images in the book, including some original artwork, but a lot of the principles really didn't need an illustration. They each have one anyway. That complaint aside, I still think I will get my money's worth for what I paid. I'm glad to have this tool handy on my bookshelf.
April 25, 2021
Another excellent, comprehensive guide to game design. I especially enjoyed their analysis of the "satisficing" vs. "optimizing" approaches to game playing, and also the list of problem solving methods in the appendix. Recommended.
January 9, 2014
"100 Principles of Game Design" presents a great deal of useful information in a small book. On the left side of the open book is an article on the relevant topic with an illustration on the right side. While this was aesthetically pleasing from a design viewpoint, I would have preferred to have had a smaller picture (or none at all) and more musings by the writer. The book in written by several writers, and each contributes their expertise on the relevant articles. Recommended for aspiring or working game designers.
February 20, 2018
Incredibly informative, when making notes I found I was making them for the majority of the pages. Concepts are explained in really easy ways, a definite staple for any game designers shelf.
August 17, 2022
A good reference but maybe not to be read cover to cover.
January 1, 2015
An excellent resource of high-level game design principles.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews