Reddit reviews The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
We found 96 Reddit comments about The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Reddit reviews The Art of Game Design: A Book of LensesWe found 96 Reddit comments about The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
That’s a million dollar question, literally. If there were a formula for defining fun, all games (video, board, tabletop) would be fun.
Some games like Minecraft and DnD5e hit just the right marks to make the authors filthily rich, but no one has ever managed to make more than a few hundred rules of thumb to get there.
If you want to dive deeper into this question, there are hundreds of books about game design available. I haven’t followed the field for quite some time now, but my personal favorite is The Art of Game Design. The author made his name by creating rides at Disney Land.
Eh. It's a fine method, it's not the only method and I'd probably advise using multiple categorization systems to look at your game. Yes they mention that it's only one of many but I don't think they really highlighted that particular point enough.
You can find many different patterns in game design if you look - but games are not really made of such discrete parts.
So yeah look at the planning, improvising and practice involved in your game. But also look at the different challenges it provides, or any of a hundred different lenses.
Game design taxonomies each present themselves as the way to look at games, but they're each just a way of looking at games and you should use a variety of different points of view when analyzing or otherwise working on your design.
But because I liked the video: my game Honor Bound is heavy on improvisation, and practice - but that practice is only to support the planning you will do.
In Honor Bound you play rock paper scissors but you choose a Class that has Abilities that may encourage you to use one move over another. Also you can tell your opponent what move you're about to play - you can psyche them out or gain a damage bonus for telling the truth.
There's a lot of improvising against your opponent's strategy. Previous experience (practice) will inform you how each Class is played and you will plan around that at the start. However this will always go back to improvising against how your particular opponent is mixing things up to try and psyche you out.
Time and motivation. That's the essence of it.
Also you are going to need to study some 2D math (and 3D if you plan on making a 3D game). Trigonometry, vectors, etc. Those are bread and butter stuff when making games.
Before starting to write a single line of code read about game design. This is by far the most recommended book.
If you have any intention of selling your game you will also need professional art and sound. Don't underestimate this.
Finally marketing a game is as important as the game itself. There are cases when a game sells by itself, but it's so rare it's like winning the lottery. Don't count on that.
Oh, one last thing, don't start working on the first idea that comes to your mind unless it's for practice. Research the market before embarking on a year long project. There are hundreds of failed retro platformers, zelda like rpgs, etc.
The art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses should give you a decent vocabulary to talk about these things.
But no book can teach you how to make fun games. All they can do is teach you vocabulary and frameworks in which to structure your ideas. (which is in and of itself extremely useful)
Post-Mortems and dev diaries (real ones, not the marketing ones) can show you some of the realities and pitfalls to expect during the production.
But there's no replacement for pure experience. Your first game will probably suck, and that's fine if you make it about learning, and not about not about stroking your ego. Ideas mean nothing if you can't execute on them anyway.
Check the history of the people making those original indy games you like. Go play their earlier games. What's new and fresh for you may be something they've been developing gradually for a decade.
I'm honestly a little surprised you can't come up with anything of your own.
Some things that really stand out to me are...
There's a variety of ways you can address these issues, but depending on what you want to do with this game would inform what solution would work best.
Honestly the game looks like a programming exercise in recreating a primitive flappy bird (which is already pretty primitive), or maybe you're asking the internet to help you with a homework assignment. I would ask yourself some basic questions about what you are trying to achieve with this game? Define a goal or mission statement for your game. Once you have that, you should be able to better steer the direction of your game and provide you with the direction you seem to be seeking here. Also doing some research on what similar games in this genre have done may also prove illuminating for you. By looking at other games in the genre, you may find features in those games that you liked and want to emulate in yours.
You may also find the following links useful
Two books (and you can google talks by the authors).
Jesse Schelle - a book explicitly based on pattern languages (from Alexander's A Pattern Language)
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/0123694965
Richard Bartle - how do design virtual worlds / types of players / motivations / etc.
https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Virtual-Worlds-Richard-Bartle/dp/0131018167/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=bartle+designing+online+worlds&qid=1554913435&s=books&sr=1-1-spell
Both have given talks, etc. etc. etc. that are online, but both books are superb.
I can provide lots more to look at but those pretty much bracket what you are asking for and both authors are VERY knowledgeable.
Bartle was the co-author of the first shared world game, for example.
I've seen The Art of Game Design mentioned in this subreddit quite a few times. I haven't read it so I can't provide my opinion on it though.
I've never played, but I did read an amazing book by one of the intial designers for Toon Town. If you're interested in game design you should check it out!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965/
The Art of Game Design - Jesse Schell
very few illistrations (if thats what your into). All theory, it's the go to book for game design
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965
Level Up - Scott Rogers.
My personal favourite. Easy to read.
http://www.amazon.com/Level-Up-Guide-Great-Design/dp/047068867X
I highly recommend Real-Time Collision Detection.
This next book might not apply to your field directly, but I believe it is a good idea to be at the very least aware of what it discusses, and it is a very excellent book on its subject: The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
I recommend this book as more of a reference than a tutorial; it will allow you to quickly brush up on those areas of math and physics which you will need while writing (or perhaps working with) a physics engine. I don't recommend attempting to learn the subjects through this book alone though. Game Physics
Reading 3D Math primer for Graphics and Game Development is how I learned linear algebra, although I plan on studying the subject from a textbook when I get the opportunity. I keep the book close for easy reference of the math related to 3D rendering (such as the projection and view matrices), although if you get this book you will want to read the errata document on its website. There may be better books to teach this stuff now, so please don't jump on it too hastily.
A couple books I do not own, but plan to correct that as soon as I can:
Game Physics Pearls and Real-Time Shadows
If I think of any others, I will edit this comment.
Art of Game Design
Game Design Workshop
There ARE several good books, I would highly recommend
The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
Kobold Guide to Board Game Design
BUT neither of those books actually teaches you mechanics and balancing, they just explore problems and ideas that you might run into. Playing games is how you learn different mechanics and how they combine, and balancing is just a thing that happens naturally as you playtest and observe what players do.
The coolest part of board game design is it doesnt require any previous training. Just grab some notecards and a pen and start exploring ideas. When you find something that seems fun, explore deeper into that idea.
You also might wanna check out /r/tabletopgamedesign
[Edit: Spelling]
First, if you want to make music for game, make music! EVERY job in the game industry is hard, including design. No matter where you start you will probably have to get your foot in the door with QA. That's a place where people "learn" where they want to move into, whether that's code, production, design, or art. If I were hiring for an audio member, I'd look at:
But back to design. Read, have varied hobbies, and make games.
A Book of Lenses and Rules of Play are both good sources to start learning "What is Design". Also, for more general design principles, study UX and Graphic Design and get a general idea of what the world means by "Usability" in general. For hobbies, try to pull inspiration from everything; if all you do is play games, all you'll do is make the same thing everyone else is. Finally, make your own games. I used to do a lot of game jams, but nowadays its focused on hacking my DnD games, thinking about board games and tabletop RPG games, and even working on my MTG Cube. Having a side project that's exercising the muscles that make you think about balance, systems, and play experience will keep you sharp and let you know if this is the thing for you or not.
Finally, understand a designers job isn't to have good ideas, but to execute on ideas and solve problems. Designers are problem solvers: "How do I make a progression based off crafting balanced, fun, and engaging?" "How do I make this F2P game meaningfully monetize while being playable for free players?" "How complicated is the character customization tool, and how do I not make it overwhelming for the players, and how do I make it fit in the technical constraints of our engine?" The faster you get away from "whats a cool idea" to "how do I solve the problems this idea brings", the faster you become a Designer.
These are leaning towards the design and development side, but I would recommend The Art of Game Design and Designing Virtual Worlds. The former is a reference of patterns and questions for game design (including board and tabletop games), while the latter is focused on the design of MMOs and MUDs but the concepts can apply to other things like your typical shooter multiplayer.
You want to be a game designer, right? As opposed to a game programmer? They're very different.
And just to get this said up front, playing a lot of video games does not necessarily make you game designer material. Playing and designing are two entirely different things.
Okay, that said, here are some of the things you need:
Oh, and watch this video for anything I might have missed.
Then read this paper to give yourself an idea of some of the depth involved in game design. Check out some of the better game design books too (Art of Game Design, Game Design Workshop and others).
Finally, go make a game. Don't wait. Copy someone else's game if you have to while you're learning the ropes, but then make your own game. Make a small, crappy game. Then make it better. If it's any good, then make it bigger -- but not until then.
And then, get ready to either be a starving indie, or to get a job in QA, or if you're really lucky, to get a job as a very junior designer. Then you're off to the races.
Good luck!
>I'm also tired of the whole "exclusive" bullshit. Why should I not be allowed to play a game when I own good hardware and software that are perfectly capable of running the game?
Because for every $50 you spend, the platform holder (ie Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo) gets $7 on average (source: The Art Of Game Design: A Book Of Lenses, by Jesse Schell, aka THE game design book).
Exclusives force you to buy the console, which is useless by itself, but enables Microsoft and Sony to make money off you by getting you to buy games on their platform. Consoles are usually sold at-cost or at a loss, on release day, so why wouldn't they encourage developers to make exclusives, which would have a similar effect?
tl;dr Why? Capitalism.
On an unrelated note, did you know that roughly 40% of the money you pay for retail copies of games is only due to it being physical and not digital? $16 goes to the retailer, and $3 goes to the physical-stuff manufacturer.
Don't let it stop you! You can do it by yourself in your freetime, here's some stuff to get you started.
I'd recommend learning either Unity or Gamemaker or something for actually making the game.
Unity2D Tutorial: http://pixelnest.io/tutorials/2d-game-unity/
Unity2D Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPV2KyIb3jR42oVBU6K2DIL6Y22Ry9J1c
Unity3D Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEFiq9_AHuTMnmPy6YAGBLg
Gamemaker Studio Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v_7URcEGm8&list=PLPRT_JORnIurFYwHdWhLWR3bLH2nzChsm
Extra Credits, show on game design and game industry: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB9B0CA00461BB187
As for books, I really recommend checking out The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lens by Jesse Schell. He does a good job at explaining the basics of game design and game mechanics.
Look into Trello for management software.
No problem, glad you enjoyed it.
If you are interested in game design, read The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schnell. At least skim it. It's great and gets deep into the emotion and psychology of game design.
For business stuff, I got a lot of input from the classic E-Myth Revisited. I won't say it didn't get boring, but the actual point of it (systematize EVERYTHING) is a really important concept to learn. That changed the way I do things and now we have systems for everything in the company.
Read Crossing the Chasm when you start getting traction. It's a very important book that answered a lot of questions for me.
Right now I'm reading Behind the Cloud by Benioff, and man, this book is also great. I had no clue they used a lot of fairly controversial tactics to get press and traction. It's a good read.
An Essential Reading List For Designers
Source: www.tomfaulkner.co.uk
All books have been linked to Amazon for review and possible purchase. Remember to support the authors by purchasing their books. If there are any issues with this listing let me know via comments or pm.
Architecture
Communication Design
Fashion Design
Angela ButtolphEditors of Phaidon ?Furniture Design
Game Design
Graphic Design
Information Design
Industrial Design
(cont'd)
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/0123694965
This is one of my favorites. Anyone who gets involved in game design or development should read it. It teaches a lot of how to not just make a game, but keep you directed.
Want to make games?
Read this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965
Check out this YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/extracredits
Learn some coding skills. Although this stuff may not be directly applicable learning the logic will be very helpful regardless. I recommend trying out Python, Java, or JavaScript: https://www.codecademy.com
Pick a game engine. Unity is great. So is Unreal 4. GameMaker is what Toby used. There are many options but I'd recommend picking up a well established one like those 3 I mentioned.
Keep your ideas S I M P L E to start. No no even simpler than what you're thinking right now. Expect your first game to probably suck and maybe be one level where you jump and shoot something. Expect your next game to suck a little less. Whatever you do don't make your biggest idea your first or second or maybe even third idea. You'll know when you're ready to handle something a bit larger after a few small projects.
||
|-|
|Stay determined...
More design than, programming but I got a lot out of The Art of Game Design. It boils down to a series of questions you should ask at various stages of designing your game. They come from a variety of perspectives from psychology and story telling to engineering and business.
Not Kibler, but if you're looking for a decent introduction, I can't recommend Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design higher.
I was laughing so hard at this one.
I am reading this book at the moment and it gave some good insights about the game industry.
Can't give any good advice because I'm also a student at the moment.
I think the link he provided is cards that also go with this [book.] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0KTN0WBYYBQG8VK11TTT)
Game Design: A Book Of Lenses is one of the best / my personal favorite.
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/0123694965
I really enjoyed this book, there's an associated flash card app that has all the lenses he talks about and cliff notes for them as well.
Buy this book next: The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses - http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965/
That book you have is great but a bit dry, I like it more as a reference than a book just to read. I learned from online forums mostly, picking up things from seeing other people's tutorials, techniques, sharing code and asking for help when I needed it. The internet is a neat place. If you have a chance, take a programming class. It will help a lot in understanding the basics.
This is my required reading in order of importance:
Absolute:
http://www.sirlin.net/article-archive/
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/231225/Video_Practical_Creativity__A_way_to_invent_new_kinds_of_video_games.php
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/233326/Video_Designing_your_game_to_offer_meaningful_choices.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJdEqssNZ-U
http://www.erasmatazz.com/library/game-design/paradigm-shift.html
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Mechanics-Advanced-Design-Voices/dp/0321820274
Must read/watch:
http://www.shutupandsitdown.com/videos/
http://www.raphkoster.com/2012/03/15/the-best-articles/
http://129.16.157.67:1337/mediawiki-1.22.0/index.php/Main_Page
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaTznQhurW5AaiYPbhEA-KA
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1449363210/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1449363210&linkCode=as2&tag=atheoroffunfo-20
Good:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWqr2tH3dPshNhPjV5h1xRw
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI3GAJaOTL1BoipG41OmfyA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm4JnxTxtvItQecKUc4zRhQ
http://www.gamasutra.com/category/design/
Other advice to the wiki:
Have a must read/watch section with all my absolutes.
Create a section that collects interesting discussions that has been made in this subreddit(and others). If the topic is saved by someone its probably good enough. This will also make people more motivated.
For game DESIGN, I personally like A Book of Lenses and Rules of Play. I didn't get much out of Theory of Fun, and the internet seems to like Level Up! but I haven't read it.
And none of those teach you really about game DEVELOPMENT -- the process, gameplay architecture philosophies, the pipelines, the team structures, the milestones, the industry jargon. The closest I've seen to that is having a games producer de-code chapters of Rapid Development for how it relates to games, back before I joined the industry and had my trial by fire. :)
Do you know what kind/platform/genre of game you're making, and what size the team is?
Have to add another recommendation for The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell. A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster is also a very good, accessible read (and heavily illustrated, which is always nice!)
Finally, Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals is good for a more exhaustive, technical look at game design theories.
Not Level Design but I really enjoy Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design.
I'm on a mobile so can't give you the in-depth comment that I want to yet, but for now 2 books spring to mind. A theory of fun for game design, and, the art of game design: a book of lenses. The latter option was especially helpful for me when I found myself in your position.
edit: added links, formatting
I've been trying to use some of the Lenses in Jesse Schell's "The Art of Game Design - A book of Lenses" (http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965)
It is a great book and is very practical, giving you a series of questions you can ask about your game to help you focus and polish it from different perspectives. I'm finding it very useful to keep me focussed on developing the fun aspects of a game and ensuring that all the elements reinforce the overall theme.
I played a few online bingo games today and also looked at some videos. My picture of how this can work is starting to get a bit clearer. I'll get some basics coded in so I have something to "feel".
Like me, you probably expected to just jump into a making a game without much of a plan, or an actual game designed, just a bunch of vague ideas of what direction you are heading. You need to take a step back and now that you understand more on how to make things, you need to actually plan out what you hope to make by learning how to Design.
If you are also like me, where you have no clue on what it actually means to design a game, and trying to put together a clusterfuck of different ideas and hope it works, you are in for a bad time. Just because we spent our lives playing games doesn't mean we know how to design them. Also think about what design means, because it is not the same thing as someone who codes a game. Just because you can do something with code, doesn't mean you should.
You should be coding for only 1 of two reasons:
1 - you are prototyping a new idea to see if it works, or just testing/playing around with stuff
2 - you are actually trying to finish a game
If #2 is the goal, you need a game plan. What you want to accomplish needs to be written down/typed up, and you need to break out every task and estimate how long things will take. If you are still uncertain about certain ideas you have, prototype the most important ones first, knowing that it is a prototype and it should just be used as a proof of concept, being ready to throw it away if necessary. Often times, I see how unrealistic my crazy ideas are, and how long it would take me, and realize that I need to go much smaller. I'd recommend checking out this book, http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965, it is awesome and probably the most interesting thing I have ever read.
if your talking about game programming, i just got Killer Game Programming in Java from O'Reilly, it's a pretty good start.
However, if you're talking about game development, as in how to actually think of a game, i suggest The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell. Very good book IMO.
The best piece of advice that I can give you is this: Figure out what you want to do, and then throw all your time at learning to be the best at that thing. I focused on programming, and that's what I'm doing now.
If you want to be a designer, read design books, study games, listen to podcasts and videos from insiders. I highly recommend Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses and Extra Credits. This is probably the hardest role of game production to get your foot in the door.
If you want to be a programmer, get a computer science degree from a four-year university. I wouldn't recommend Full Sail for this, but then again, I have no experience with them, so don't listen to me.
If you want to be a producer... yeah, I really have no idea about this one. Producers are mostly managers, people-people, who facilitate the interaction of artists, programmers, QA, and others.
Unity is good. I wish I'd spent more time playing with it. But again, your focus should be on "How do I get experience doing the thing that I want to do".
Not sure about the book Dan mentioned, but The Art of Game Design is by Jesse Schell. It's technically a textbook, so it's a bit pricey, but here's the link.
I'm like you, I'm a programmer not a designer. I often times will get stuck because I feel the need to iterate on an idea over and over until it's perfect, but by that time I'm bored of it and I move on to something else. Unfortunately, there is no real way to know if a design is good until you've made something you can interact with. This is something that occurs quite frequently in the professional game design world as well. So, my solution has been to force myself to implement my initial designs so I can play it. Then, and only then, will I allow myself to iterate on the design.
Also, my base metric for a game is "Would I play this game?" If the answer is yes, then I make it. Chances are if I like it, others will as well.
Also, I would say pick up a copy of The Art of Game Design. It breaks down the different aspects of games and explains them in great detail. Some examples are the balance between skill and luck, storytelling, risk and return, etc.
I don't want to spam since I posted a Reddit today on the topic, but our new tutorial was designed specifically for a noob. It's 3D, but the majority of info translates to 3D development.
http://www.garagegames.com/fps
If you want to be a designer, grab Jesse Schell's book ( http://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321479907&sr=8-1) and make a bunch of board games and play them with your friends. You'll learn how to design more quickly if you take the tech challenges out of the equation.
When I first commented I did not notice you had written a book on this topic.
In my experience people who ask for feedback after having created something are 9 time out of 10 looking for validation and/or compliments.
Sorry, no compliments or validation here. As a game designer I cannot see how your system of forms matures the game development industry. I feel this idea is severely lack in substance and applicability. The theory as a whole, is based upon definitions which are confusing, easily misinterpreted, and grossly under-explained.
There is nothing present in this system of forms that isn't already explained elsewhere but more elegantly. Jesse Schell concretely demonstrated that these things should not be categorized, in his book The Art of Game Design where he explores the differences between toys, puzzles and games.
Your new definition of a GAME as Decisions is eeriliy similar to Sid Meiyer's own more elegant definition as "games are meaningful choices".
There is nothing seminal here.
When you say "2D rpg" we all have a different view on what you might mean. You probably mean numbers in a single player game, but the thing is, the more detail you give, the better. Are there any items? Is the amount of items nearly infinite, do you pick some prefixes, suffixes like in Diablo? Are there classes in your game? Do they have a unique purpose, different play-style? I'll try not to focus on multiplayer, because it's highly improbable that it is in your game. And even if we know nothing about your game.. There are still a lot of useful tricks and rules about balance.
 
Numerical relationships
Firstly, math, excel, custom tools.
Most things are numbers. The player has 5 health, is that a lot? No idea. Enemies might deal 500 damage, maybe they deal 1 damage. This leads to NUMERICAL RELATIONSHIPS. How does one stat work with others? Make diagrams showing enemy damage vs player health and you'll see how many hits the player can take in a quick succession in some part of your game.
There are a lot of numerical relationships. Linear, Identity, Triangular, Polynomial, Exponential, Logarithmic. Try to figure out what works best. You can see a lot of information scanning through diagrams in the Reverse Design: Diablo 2, make sure to check out the other pages, because I just gave a link to the beginning. Also check out Ian Schreiber's GDC talk A Course About Game Balance.
 
Expected Values
Use expected values, they are a very powerful balancing tool.
Lets say we have some kind of board game and the players pick cards from one deck of cards.
Player A picks a card:
You gain 2 gold.
Player B picks a card:
If you have at least 2 buildings, gain 3 gold. Otherwise gain 1 gold.
Oh well, Player B didn't have 2 buildings, he got only 1 gold. Did he get a worse card? Maybe yes, maybe no. How do you even treat calculate things like this? Well.. If the players played this game 100000 times in a row, how often would one card be better than the other? Or.. How often does a player have at least 2 buildings? Maybe players have 2 buildings about 70% of the time, which means that on average, in 70% cases that player gets 3 gold and in 30% cases players get 1 gold. Of course, if you pick a SPECIFIC case, you get 3 or 1, but hopefully you get the point.
Expected value of card1:
100% 2 = 2 [gold]
Expected value of vard2:
70% 3 + 30% 1 = 2.4 [gold]*
Hey, maybe card2 isn't that bad after all? It actually is better than card1!
Of course there are many other relationships, maybe gold is only good at the beginning of the game and worthless later, check out how the expected value changes over time, in turn 1, turn 2, or after 10 minutes of play and so on. Maybe on your turn the chance to have 2+ buildings is 0% or only 10%, but it gets higher over time.
 
Treating everything like numbers
Now that you know expected values, just treat everything like a number! Make sure that all players feel that the game is fair. In single player games, make sure that all characters have same power level. One way to do it is to assign a value to each attribute or ability and make sure that it adds up to the same number for all characters.
Base Value | Health | Damage | MoveSpeed
:--------|:--------:|---------:|---------:
Low | 1| 2 | 2
Medium | 3 | 3 | 3
High | 4| 5 | 4
Then look at the starting values of your classes and check if they same the same or similar total power.
Class | Health | Damage | MoveSpeed | Total
:--------|:--------:|---------:|---------:|---------:
Warrior | High (4) | Low (2) | Low (2) | 8
Archer | Medium (3) | Medium (3) | Medium (3) | 9
Mage | Low (1) | High (5) | Low (2) | 8
From these made up stats, it looks like the archer is the best character. Does playtesting support this? Maybe I got the table wrong, it needs a lot of iterations to get it right.
 
Randomness
You might want to add some randomness (which means probability, which means expected value again). When people win, they will think they are good. When they lose, they can always blame it on bad luck. This is a very powerful feeling that works for a lot of casual players. Hearthstone might be a good example, if not a bit too extreme.
 
Rock Paper Scissors
You can also use rock-paper-scissors mechanics. Card games have it, strategy games have it. The most common example is archers beat pikeman, pikeman beat cavalry, cavalry beats archers. Just don't make it too obvious or straightforward, just enough to prevent players from going full-on one thing. For example, look at armor and damage types in Warcraft 3, you can't just go and produce the same unit all the time.
 
Diminishing returns
"is the decrease in the marginal (incremental) output of a production process as the amount of a single factor of production is incrementally increased, while the amounts of all other factors of production stay constant", which in RPGs it can mean that the first 100 points in strength increase your damage by 5 per point, but above 100 strength they only increase it by 3 per point. Sure, the math is usually more complex, just an example. Even Blizzard uses this in Diablo 2 and 3.
 
Choices and dominant strategies
Giving players a lot of options is generally good, but if goals can be achieved in many ways it can lead to dominant strategies. Even if you give 5 options (you can shoot an enemy, shoot a chandelier to make it drop on enemies, sneak past them, use dialogue to avoid fights) players might pick the "best" one, even if it is boring. This is a kind of a balance problem. Make sure nothing is the best in every case, but make sure the player doesn't have to change weapons every 10 seconds in order to be efficient or to progress.
 
Proper level of challenge
When you make it too hard, people will get frustrated.
When you make it too easy, people will get bored.
In addition to that, you will have different types of players and they will get better over time. This is one reason why you need to know your target audience, know what your average player will be and how much time are they realistically willing to play your game.
 
The problem here is that the players will get better over time and you need to keep them challenged. You can have a game with waves, where the game gets harder with every wave, thus increasing difficulty all the time. This leads to a problem of boring early waves, maybe give pro players an option to skip the early parts of your game so they don't get bored and just quit the game. You can have difficulty levels and just let the player pick. It might seem I'm getting off topic here, but "too easy" and "too hard" are balance problems as well and you need to keep that "just right" level all the time.
 
Sources
I tend to agree with u/eepoo, mainly with the inexperience part. I don't think getting a team and making a game is as simple as a white bored sesh and trying to determine common traits of your fav games. Sound like a bucket of nightmare!
If you haven't already, check out The Art Of Game Design: A Book Of Lenses. Or even download the app of the same title, which is a little trimmed version with all the bullet points.
At least get your inexperienced guys to get the app for a crash course game design.
Url for the book, posting from phone and can't figure how to hyper link.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0123694965?pc_redir=1414060587&robot_redir=1
All that said, I am curious to know how the meeting does go? I may just eat my hat :-)
I'd say it's a pretty complex set of conditions that need to be met, ranging from game DNA, the technical scope, cost of the project, and the market viability/RoI (unless you have a grant or are making an art game).
Recently, I've really gotten into Scott Rigby's work because he seems to be on to a testable idea surrounding the DNA, but I also pull from Jesse Schell and others--I just prefer Rigby because he's testing the ideas, not just arguing for them. Using his framework, I can place features into different categories before writing up actual design specs, so before the feature's nuts and bolts even exist, I know where it fits into the machine ("This aids in the competency part", "This aids in the autonomy part", etc.)
The technical scope and cost go roughly hand-in-hand after you've got the DNA and design specs going on, but you can do things in stages. Make a prototype with programmer art, the most essential features, and test it. If that does well, pull from the plan and add more based on cost. Test again, etc. Build up the team as you need. If something isn't playtesting well, figure out if its worth it to double down or scrap. And if you're scrapping something central to the DNA, then figure out if you can replace it with a functionally similar feature or scrap the game.
The market viability and RoI can be more or less important depending on the type of game. If it's something like Jason Rohrer's Gravitation, then your scope and technical cost is smaller, and you might have a grant, so there's less risk to sell. If you're making a F2P mobile game, you're at the exact opposite--business is much more at the forefront and really has to be for a financially successful game. AAA are less extreme vs. F2P, although there's high investment which certainly puts the pressure on, but the business model isn't there as much. An Indie PC, crowd-funded darling focuses much more on the developer/community relations and how the community, when treated as investors, have a voice in development, like any other investors would. So there's complex constraints there too (the public may not understand a decision at first or might disagree with you, do you explain and try to win them over or listen to the sway of the crowd?)
As you mentioned, there's also platform concerns that will change the design. A mobile phone experience is different than a tablet experience. The market's on those platforms react differently to different products. I wouldn't make a game with features that indie PC gamers would love on mobile because the market just isn't there. Likewise, I wouldn't make a console game on mobile phones, because that mistakes what people want out of mobile phone experiences over a long period of time. Other features, like VR, come with huge unknowns because we're just starting to work in that space.
Finally, I would say, "Make something you would like." and "Make something you can sleep with at night." If you want to make something like Smash, do it, but put your own spin, since you can't make Smash (unless you work at Nintendo). If you work in F2P, make something you would like to play, not just something you think will make money. And, paradoxically, realize that sometimes you aren't the consumer (AAA and mobile F2P come to mind), and in those cases, playtest and listen to the people more than your gut.
Graphics and OpenGL:
Engine Development: Game Engine Architecture
Game Design: The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses
First off, I think this is the most elaborate contest I've ever participated in, so congratulations for that :P Fear cuts deeper than swords. I hope some of my items are awesome enough for some extra credit ;) Also I wasn't sure if duplicates are allowed. I will revise if necessary.
1.) Something grey and it's been on my wishlist.
2.) Rain, well not technically rain, she is a water bender :P Previously on my wishlist.
3.) Unusual, I think this is something I would use like twice a year. With ice cream or cereal.
4.) Someone else My sister and I want to start playing tabletop games. Previously on my wishlist.
5.) "Book" I took a little bit of liberty with this one because it's a graphic novel. But it's Batman, so...(Previously on my wishlist).
6.) Under a dollar.
7.) Cats There's a catbus in it, which is pretty much the best part of the movie. Previously on my wishlist.
8.) Beautiful As a Star Wars fan having the original trilogy on Blu Ray would be beautiful to me. I love high definition movies, especially ones that are aesthetically pleasing. Previously on my wishlist.
9.) Movie As a Browncoat, I would encourage anyone who has a remote interest in Sci-Fi to give this a chance. Previously on my wishlist.
10.) Zombie tool I don't think this needs explanation.
11.) (Updated) Useful for future. I have a desire to create meaningful video games. Previously on wish list.
12.) Add on I actually had this on my wishlist but removed it because add-on items are lame.
13.) Most expensive As previously stated, I want to be a game developer/designer so not only would it be fun to play with, I could create with it too. Previously on list.
14.) Bigger than breadbox Total in the box it is bigger than a breadbox. Previously on wishlist.
15.) Bigger than a golf ball It's a large book. Previously on wishlist.
16.) Smells good As a guy...I enjoy the scent of lavender.
17.) Safe for children toy I don't think this needs any introduction of why it's awesome.
18.) Back to school drawing helps keep me sane. Previously on my list.
19.) Current obsession I'm a noob to tabletop games. But have been wanting to get into it obsessively within the past month or so. And this also takes my love of A Song of Ice and Fire into the mix. Previously on list.
20.) [Amazing] (http://www.amazon.com/Sony-XBR-65X900A-65-Inch-120Hz-Ultra/dp/B00BSREQI6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1376281533&sr=8-4&keywords=4k+tv) I've seen one of these in person at the mall and it literally made me stop walking the resolution was so incredible. I know it's as expensive as dicks...but man...when these are affordable...
Bonus 2) Made in Oregon I would have put Tillamook Ice Cream, since it's pretty awesome...but alas not on Amazon.
Edit: Changed an item because I saw it won't count because it's a duplicate.
The only course I've taken so far was through Digipen University's project fun and it was a Programming course with only basic game design principles covered, it really focused on the programing. Link-a-dink
Being only a a Senior in highschool everything else has been personal study through Video series (Extra Credits is one of my favorite)
Lectures given at GDC, commentary on games, podcast done by studios and books(This was and is fantastic in its in depth way of looking at game design)
This year I convinced a computer teacher to let me and a friend just have a year of independent study in his class developing from the ground up our own game, so that should give a lot of learning opportunities. A line I remember from The Art of game design said it best "The first step to becoming a game designer is simple, say you are a game designer. Then, design games."
Make a good, 2 player, fighting game. It's as simple as that.
The thing about this is that the question isn't very useful because people have spent their entire careers trying to answer that question, it's not an easy thing to do. Questions like this are often attempts to skip over the long process of learning. Also, good is subjective.
Here's the thing about making good games/songs/paintings/etc that it really is just that, too make something good, just make something, and figure out what's good and what's bad about it, and next time maybe that will help you avoid the bad and have more good. The rule for music is don't "study" music production/theory until you've written atleast 20 songs, maybe more like 5 games, but the same logic applies. Don't focus on making something good, until you've already made something bad, and another slightly less bad, etc
Im going to talk about music because quite frankly im more confident talking about it than games. The way you learn is you just try over, and over, and over again. You learn from your mistakes, and move on. It's like how I asked my music teacher "how long it takes until I can somewhat improvise [on piano, Im new to the piano, it's new to be on the non technical part, making sound from a physical instrument instead of a computer]" and his response was "you already can improvising isn't that hard, it's good improv that is"
My first song was awful, like literally painful to hear. I kept working at it, admittingly not very consistently, and I've made progress. (https://soundcloud.com/mark-leard/october-26-song) but I have a lot to learn. Im complely lost, but one thing I've began realizing is that so is everyone else.
Also don't be afraid to be influenced by things you like, heck the term scratch is a reference to a technique used by DJ's to manipulate the sound of a already created song. The talking before rap-god is all sampled, and the funky drummer groove has been sampled thousands of times.
Also I love this book, it's worth a read ( https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/0123694965 )
Good luck
I can certainly recommend you
The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
by Jesse Schell. Also, this book has a companion app in Play Store and App Store
You're very good at ASSERTING your point of view without backing anything you're saying up. Sadly, you'll have plenty of company in video games with a destructively ignorant point of view like yours. Eventually that will change as video games mature as a medium.
Your "guesses" as to my personal life are incorrect, irrelevant, and mean-spirited. Nice.
If you ever change your mind and decide to open up to the world of game design, I would recommend that you read "The Art of Game Design" by Jesse Schell for a really great introduction to the basics.
Got into 3D mostly because I knew a couple of people who were going to the same school for it, which pushed me to go in the same year as them instead of taking a gap year like I had originally planned.
I always planned on going into the R&D side of things, doing concept art etc. But then one day in a team project, I drew the short straw and was left to animate our characters. I fucking smashed those animations. After all that time avoiding animation- it ended up being the thing I was best at, and the thing I enjoyed the most. Finding you have a natural talent for something you enjoy is a great way to get motivation.
On a side note, if you are serious about Game design; I highly recommend This book. Its a resource I keep going back to when I run into problems. It truly covers everything.
Our very own E-Book HERE has a lot of helpful stuff on getting started!
I'd also recommend the following:
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965/
http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Game-Design-Raph-Koster/dp/1449363210/
Game Design by Bob Bates covers a bird's-eye view of general game theory and the process of game development from beginning to end. It's very "readable" and gives you context to help you understand how your development process can help aid your particular design paradigm that you decide upon. If I recall correctly, it also goes over a lot of the different type of design documents that are often used in the industry.
Depending on how much textbook you can stomach, Software Engineering for Game Developers by John Flynt and Omar Salem is an interesting take on the whole game design angle by delving entirely into the source code development. It follows an actual game created by the authors and the entire process used from beginning to end in designing the engine. The game itself was shitty, but the code was immaculate and the process certainly gave me a lot to mull over and cherry pick for my own projects. Be warned, however, this book is as dry as a road trip in the Sahara and twice as long.
Besides these two, I can also definitely recommend Level Up! and The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses as previously recommended elsewhere in this topic.
If you can get away with a required book, I would insist you use Theory of Fun. It's not about boardgames specifically, but more about what is fun and why games are fun. It's quite easy to read (every other page is a drawing), but it's excellent and deep. It would definitely give you a good foundation to go on and talk about games from a more educated standpoint.
"Why do you like this game?" "Ok, do you remember where the book says that's a fun thing to do?"
Or look at some critically acclaimed games and see why they fall under good design, or some popular, yet poorly designed games and why some people don't like them (Monopoly for one).
Scott Nicholson had a great video series called Boardgames With Scott that might have some useful videos. He's currently at MIT on sabbatical doing game design/teaching research (looks like maybe he just finished).
If you're looking for a book for yourself,
You'll notice a lot of them aren't specifically games, but deal with fun and play. It's important to understand those before you can talk about games. That is also a good topic. What is a game? How do you define it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game#Definitions
I personally like Chris Crawford's definition, but you get a lot of backlash from the general public for such a strict definition, as if forms of interactive entertainment are somehow inferior if they are not "games."
I'm just sort of rambling and vomiting thoughts here, but to summarize some topics I would want to go over:
Artificial intelligence could be an interesting side topic. Looking at search algorithms and how they are used to solve tic-tac-toe and how you use the EXACT same method to solve checkers or play chess and go (currently unsolved).
If you do decide to talk about a variety of games, here are some I would suggest you look at:
As you can tell, I love stuff like this. Let me know what you think about my ideas, or if you want to talk more or throw ideas back and forth, feel free.
Other sources:
You could look into the book called the Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell. https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/0123694965
Although it is indeed impossible to cater to everyone's needs, I think there are many cravings shared by all of us.
Anyway, giving it a bit more thought, I think that instead of "addiction", the term "engagement" might suit you as well (since both end up getting the player hooked to your game but from different reasons) and even in a happier way so to speak.
In that case, analyzing your design through tools like the MDA and many of the lenses might help you.
BTW, if you are into games, here's an excellent book on the non-technical aspects: http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965
If you want to know how the GPU works and such, these books give some insights: http://www.riemers.net/ the tutorials online are useful without the books. Note this covers XNA, which is the C# library for programming XBox games, unrelated to Unity, but if you just read it you'll get an idea of how Unity is translating your things into more lower-level details. Like, what's the "terrain" type really doing behind the scenes, and how do shadows work?
There is actually a lot of good reading about level design out there. I can't remember all of the books/articles off hand, but I'll see if I can throw some links together.
Edit:
This one had a lot of good theory and concepts
Great book. If you are going to spend some money to buy a book, get this.
Also, I would recommend playing through games with good level design and breaking down each design choice. Getting a few overhead maps helps too. Start with old games, because their levels/art is often more simple and easier to pick apart. Then move up in generations to get a feel for how people tackle more complicated scenes and designs.
I am not sure what aspect you are interested in. The set dressing or the actual level design, but there are some differences between the too.
http://www.gameenginebook.com/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965
I would recommend this book:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965
Read this then return to us a wiser man/woman.
What exactly do you want to do in gaming? Programming? Design? Art? There's also producing.
However, no matter what path you decide to take, one of the best things you can do is learn programming. Programming is obviously building the game and bringing its mechanics to live, everything from render the artwork to the physics is all programming. Even if you don't want to do it as a job, knowing how to program is an incredibly beneficial skill to have in the gaming industry, and if you go into design, it can really inform your design skills.
Design is defining the mechanics that make the game. The designers main job is to make the game fun, but that covers a lot of material a(anything from setting, characters, and plot to rules and mechanics). For designing, there really isn't a specific course you can take. Mainly you just want to play games, and break down why they are fun. Thoroughly examine every way you interact with the game; break it down into parts. A really good book that covers nearly all aspects of game design is The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses.
Art can be anything from creating textures to 3D modeling to concept design. And producing is basically team management.
Just wanted to bump this one:
>The Art of Game Design - Jesse Schell is very very good.
It's a broad 'make you think' kind of book that covers every aspect of game design without trying to give you the answers (an impossible task), but rather make you think about the questions and the reasons behind everything. Coming from a programming background it really reminded me of Code Complete in this aspect. Couldn't recommend it enough!
> Where is this holy guidebook according to which we should all design games the same way?
I've found one for you.
Tough in all seriousness movement mechanics are a fundamental part of the majority of games and if they make someone frustrated for no discernible reason then they have every right to dislike the game. Even if there is a good reason it still doesn't mean they have to like it. Opinions can be based on false information and therefore wrong but this clearly isn't one of those cases. The reviewer played the games and didn't like a mechanic so marked it down instead of thinking '/u/quantum_darkness might like this game and, even though I don't like it, I'll give it a high score just for them.
It depends. A game design degree from a well-designed and well-connected course (USC and Carnegie Mellon are both well-set-up) can sometimes help, but more through the connections you'll make than the things you'll learn in the course. In general, though, I agree strongly with the people here advising you to learn a practical skill.
Someone looking to hire a junior designer (and please don't have any illusions that you'll be considered anything other than junior until you've shipped titles) will be looking at you through two lenses:
For both questions to be answerable in the affirmative, you need to be able to demonstrate both that you know how to think like a designer (what choices were made to make a given game work, and why did those choices have the effect they had?), and that you know your way around a game engine. A designer who knows only how to write design docs won't be useful in the short-term, and probably won't be useful in the longer term either, because this person won't be able to prototype their work. Good design is an iterative process, and your ability to explore and respond to your work hinges on your ability to express it in the medium.
Regardless of the degree you choose, my recommendation is that you pursue your own education aggressively. The game industry changes extremely fast, and your ability to teach yourself constantly is essential to your ability to keep up and stay relevant. To this end, I'd do two things:
There are other great books out there, but these three will set you off in the right direction. As a practical way to learn to apply this thinking, I'd recommend writing notes about the games you play from the perspectives taught in these books. Learn the theory by reading about it, recognize how it's working in the games you play by writing about it (even if just for yourself), and then try to apply this thinking to the game you're designing and building in the engine you're learning.
Do these things, and you'll be an impressive candidate, and well on your way to becoming a good designer. At that point, the degree you choose really comes down to the specific areas in yourself you'd like to strengthen. I've worked with designers who earned degrees in architecture, film, english literature, philosophy, computer science, experimental music, and game design. Truthfully, few people will be swayed one way or another by the particular degree - they'll want to see your work and your ability to think. Above all, listen to those people here who are telling you to learn both sides of the coin - how to think about and write about design, and how to build running software - they're absolutely right that you need both.
If you want be game designer, it's your job to come up with such systems and it's fun doing so... Tutorials and books can help you, but sometimes you must do thinking... And general design rules apply.... For instance http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965
Not totally sure about requiring a massive budget. You would for the full realization of your dream, but there are many intermediate steps that can be turned into games. Have you played Pandemic? It could be something like that, where there are a ton of choices, but in a very manageable manner. It has a sophisticated yet elegant underlying ruleset that makes it workable.
It all depends on how you want the player to interact with the game. 3rd person action? Implausable. Top-down city sim? Mid-core budget. (Think Tropico). Text-based adventure? Inde game.
As I said, the text-based can evolve. Even if it was simply a choose-your-own-adventure style game, it would be entertaining. Remember the lense of a toy (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965). First, you create a toy. See if the toy is fun. If it is fun, then you can create a game using the toy.
I don't have a gift idea. I use NGUI, iTween, EasyTouch and FX Maker (or is it studio?) nearly every day, but a new asset can be quite the time-sink.
However, in three years when you have the money (my predictions never miss), this would be an awesome gift: Premium support
Also, if you need a book, this is one of my favorites on the subject of Game Design: The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses
Do your own:
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Design-Workshop-Second-Edition/dp/0240809742
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965/ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/Challenges-Game-Designers-Brenda-Brathwaite/dp/158450580X/ref=pd_sim_b_2
http://www.amazon.com/Level-Up-Guide-Great-Design/dp/047068867X/ref=pd_sim_b_2
http://www.amazon.com/David-Perry-Game-Design-Brainstorming/dp/1584506687/ref=pd_sim_b_13
My favorite game design book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965 A lot of what follows can be found in there.
Unity is what I use when making and prototyping games but that's only because that's what I happened to learn to use first and I have a decent programming background. You're probably better off with Game Maker or something else just starting out.
There are several approaches to conceptualizing and making games but my approach involves using a list of game mechanics and combining them to see if something interesting pops into my mind. Here's the nicely formatted Board Game Geek website list: http://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgamemechanic and my own personal sloppy list with extra mechanics, my thoughts on them, as well as misspellings galore! http://pastebin.com/jQ68Z8cn A lot of the ideas are board game specific but they can all be applied to video games if you consider them in an abstract sense.
Any game idea I come up with I then subject to a validation test to make sure it's actually something that's a game an not just an interesting idea. I ask myself, does this game include:
If the idea has those properties then it can probably be made into a game.
More important than any of that, though, is to start simple in concept and small in content. No one's a game designer, developer, or maker until they actually make a game.
Read A Book of Lenses. Make lots of small, well-polished (in terms of game design) games. :)
Hm, ill suggest reading books:
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/0123694965
https://www.amazon.com/Game-Design-Workshop-Playcentric-Innovative/dp/0240809742
Looks like a good reading. Thanks for the suggestions, this book is next after I finish The Art of Game Design both of which, I think, will help me a lot to see and plan the 'big picture' before I start a project.
Game Design has nothing to do with programming. Familiarize yourself with the different roles in development and you will find books for the right topics. r/gamedesign is nice on its own. Depending on your use of technology, you might want to look into the corresponding subs aswell.
Good reads on game design are Level Up! and The Art of Game Design.
​
Get a book or two (& free app from book of lenses itunes store or play store
Hit up your local book store and library to get a good look at what's available, explore all sections frequently.
Learn some art
Buy assets.
Here's some sexy stuff.
Get a Git to keep your goods on.
Hands on, in person, training is way behind the times as far as education is concerned.
Get Unity Certifiied.
Get Live Training
Check with your library they may off Lynda.com for free.
Get a big android tablet to build games for and show off at the office.
Join Meetup.com and look for local game developer groups.
Check the closest community college for game design class, if not see how much basic drawing, life drawing and basic design principles cost, if it's more than $500, try meetup.com and youtube/lynda or udemy or coursera to cover those experiences.
Use the force,
I used to hate math, too. Rest assured, you don't hate math, you hate the way you've been taught math. Math is beautiful and wonderful and every bit as lovely as the most eloquent of sonnets. There's true beauty in Euclid's proof that there are infinitely many primes, and in Cantor's proof that the infinity of the real numbers is greater than the infinity of the integers, or in any proof of the Pythagorean theorem. Math isn't about numbers, or equations, or multiplication tables, it's about seeing the beauty that comes from exploring a set of rules, be that algebra or calculus or geometry.
If you want to make video games, you've come to the right place. If you want to try it out, Ludum Dare, a 48 hour game jam, is coming up soon, and you can make something very simple for it to see if coding is for you. More than math, computer science is about problem solving and logic. The math is there, but that stuff can be done with calculators and Wolfram|Alpha. Even if you don't like code, you may like designing games, and if you do, you can make simpler games with less coding knowledge in GameMaker or Twine or Stencyl until you've built up enough of a portfolio to justify working with coders to make your designs become reality. (GameMaker, Twine, and Stencyl are all really mature tools at this point. GameMaker was used to make Hotline Miami, and Twine was used to make Depression Quest)
Note, however, that game design is not just being an "idea guy". Game design is real work involving real problem solving, playtesting, and a lot of study of the greats of the past, like any artistic endeavor. You'll want to play and dissect the great works of the past and see how they tick and why they're still memorable all these years later, read things like Jesse Schell's "The Art of Game Design", or Steve Swink's "Game Feel" to understand what games are and what they can be, so you can push those boundaries in new and exciting directions.
My top three books are:
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/0123694965
https://www.amazon.com/David-Perry-Game-Design-Brainstorming/dp/1584506687
(more like an index of game design terms, ideal for brainstorming)
https://www.amazon.com/Game-Programming-Patterns-Robert-Nystrom/dp/0990582906
(more related to programming, but can give you a great insight how games should be structured, which can inform some design decisions)
Do you not agree that there are a whole load of really immature books about game design that are sold more on the fact that "its a book about games" than its inherent content ?
Even within the space of magazines I think it would be fair to call Nintendo power immature and something like EDGE , Games TM or Develop magazine Mature.
for someone starting from scratch you would get allot more by reading these books than by watching EC ( obviously can do both and EC is a nice starting pion for someone totally new to games)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0465067107?ie=UTF8&tag=alwaysblack01-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0465067107
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0273693646?ie=UTF8&tag=alwaysblack01-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0273693646
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Game-Design-Raph-Koster/dp/1932111972
allso over view books on Game theory , the history of the microchip and computing , evolution and basic biology can be incredibly good in helping think about games as an art and the limitations in the development of software.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fun-Games-Text-Game-Theory/dp/0669246034/ref=cm_lmf_tit_12
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321193679/zx81orguk00
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0932633439/zx81orguk00
http://www.amazon.com/Computer-History-Information-Machine-Technology/dp/0465029906
I realise EC is just easily consumable general information and that's fine just wish they did it without the pretence , like I said in other comments I'm glad they make it even though it personally annoys the hell out of me its beneficial for games as a whole as there is a general lack of even moderately intelligent talk about games.
Yep, hit a block recently where I realized I really suck at game design (at least coming up with something that I can actually finish myself).
I can code anything, but actually coming up with a design of a simple game that is fun to play and can be developed by a single person has been hard. So I've backtracked a bit and realize that I have been focusing on learning how to make games so much that I never learned how to design them. So I am doing a lot more research and studying of games to realize what makes them good.
I've found http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965 (also has a free android app to go with it, definitely worth the download! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.schellgames.deckoflenses) to be excellent so far, and all the stuff I thought I knew that I took for granted (like why do we actually play games, what "fun" means or even what a "game" is) are revisited and makes me think a lot deeper when making design choices. Before I would just implement a bunch of features I thought were cool with a vague understanding with how it fits into the game as a whole.
standard_error is right, that's typically how the term "game theory" is used. Maybe you were thinking something more along the lines of "game design"? If so, I'd recommend The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell.
I would recommend to learn the ropes first...
Read a few good books about the game design.
First one I would advice:
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393940811&sr=1-2&keywords=game+design
Also this, this will change his life.
Thanks a lot! I actually have that first book bookmarked but I forgot to put it on the list.
I'm leaning closer and closer to purchasing a copy of The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses and it's one I'm actually really curious about.
On Game Physics Pearls - I peeked into the first few pages and it looks like something that I will pick up once I have a bit of experience in that area...does that sound about right or would you say it could cater to beginners fairly well?
Game Physics seems like it may be a bit more beginner-friendly but you are right about it not being a tutorial, which is kind of important for me at this step. I'm definitely bookmarking this until I know a bit more on the subject, though. I'll be taking a Physics course next September so it may be a good time to look at it after that!
Real-Time Shadows looks very interesting but I'm unsure to the difficulty level of it to a beginner. It sounds like I need to brush up on my math after three years of not using it very often at all.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions!
*I'll be taking a course on Linear Algebra here in the coming semesters, but that book does sound like a good introduction along with how it works within 3D programming. I'll keep a look-out on that for a while; do you think it would be very worthwhile to read that before something like Real-Time Rendering?
You should read these two books, The Art of Game Design and Reality is Broken. They're both a pretty good window into what makes games fun in a psychological way.
I would recommend the The Art of Game Design lense series.
If you want something broader than just writing plot then looking into game design in general might be a good idea - and that of being a creative director. On this subject I recommend the book The Art of Game Design. You can also try find design documents for games you enjoy, maybe get in touch with and interview game designers working on games you like. I don't have any examples to give.
Sounds like you have your own ideas which is great, honestly the best way forward is to just invent your own structure that works for the game you want to create. You're looking for a format that is easy for you to organize and communicate to others. Focus on what you need right now, and the techniques and structure will follow.
Really really good game design book (a lot of university game design teacher use this one as main core of their courses)
http://www.amazon.ca/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965
To answer question 2: I think you would enjoy The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses by Jesse Schell http://www.amazon.com/dp/0123694965/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_WIdotb0YD3MBP
Seems like it
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/0123694965
https://www.amazon.com/Game-Design-Workshop-Playcentric-Innovative/dp/0240809742
https://www.amazon.com/Challenges-Game-Designers-Brenda-Brathwaite/dp/158450580X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQvWMdWhFCc
Read: The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/0123694965
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/0123694965
This is a great design book by Jesse Schell.
I also recently read the Spelunky book by Derek Yu and was inspired by it, but it's not as much of a coffee table book.
https://bossfightbooks.com/products/spelunky-by-derek-yu
I've worked in Game Development for several years now, so hopefully I will have something useful to say.
I'd start by asking, whats your end goal here? To be a game designer, or a level designer? To be able to make games on your own? Or to work on large AAA titles as a developer in a big team? Do you want to work on console, PC mobile, social or any of these?
If you want to be a game designer, understanding programming helps, but it's not the be all and end all. If it's console or PC games I'd look at games that come with level editors and try and make some great levels, and develop an understanding of how this works. Level design is a good entry level role to get in to the industry.
I am told this book is also very good for a design perspective - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348088653&sr=8-1
I'd also try and develop a good understanding of how a social game, or a freemium mobile app is different in design to a paid app or game, and how designing around monetisation drives these games.
If you want to make games on your own - or in a small group, you are looking at something like Flash, GameMaker or Unity. Here is a site with a load of stuff that can help you,
http://www.pixelprospector.com/indie-resources/
Finally, if you want to do programming, I'd recommend learning a basic entry level language, but not from a games perspective. Just learn about syntax, and fuctions. Then, once you have some confidence, try and write a Space Invaders clone. If you can do this, (get some feedback on it and then nail it), you've got a great thing to show people your commitment and passion, and will help get you a JNR coders job.
She might be interested in this:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Video-Games-Pac-Man/dp/159962110X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381262117&sr=8-1&keywords=video+games+are+art
Or even this:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Game-Design-lenses/dp/0123694965/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1381262117&sr=8-6&keywords=video+games+are+art
Possibly even this:
http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Game-Design-Raph-Koster/dp/1449363210/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381262296&sr=1-4&keywords=games+are+fun
I am a 65F gamer - let her know she's missing out if she ignores video games. Not only fun but uses the mind in ways older people tend to use rarely or stop using at times. The challenge of video games keeps the brain firing on all circuits. Puzzles, quests, challenge, etc., all combine to not only entertain but also to teach and to broaden thinking in general :)
Read this. Invaluable.
https://smile.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-Book-Lenses/dp/0123694965?sa-no-redirect=1
You should read this book: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965
A lot of the suggestions and ways of looking at problems (the 'lenses' in her book) apply to Isaac, and Isaac actually has a lot of good things going for it in those terms.