(Part 3) Top products from r/gamedesign

These books are more theoretical and about self growth as a well-rounded designer, if you want game theory others listed some great ones like Rules of Play and Book of Lenses. That said, here's my list:

• Level Design For Games: Creating Compelling Game Experiences by Phil Co (Valve)
  
  It's more of a broad game design book since it talks about all the pipelines / processes of all departments coming together, with an emphasis on scripting / level design for crafting experiences. Portion of the book uses Unreal Engine 2 as a reference, but you can probably use UE4 or something else to follow along the actual game design lessons he's teaching and not have the take away be a technical tutorial.
  
  
• Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull (Pixar)
  
  I cannot describe how invaluable this book is, if you're only to get one from the list it'd be this one. While it does covers Pixar's history as a frame of reference for a lot of stuff, it's also more importantly about their ideology for fostering creativity, productivity and work/ life balance -- all of which are important and can be applied to Game Design.
  
  
• Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister.
  
  I read this one after Gabe Newell recommended it one of his interviews and it was at a time in my career when I was working at a AAA studio struggling with the corporate forces that got in the way of creativity / productivity. It was one of those that changed me as a developer. It's more from a management point of view, but seriously applicable if you are collaborating with other people in game development, either on the same level as you or those who rely on your work to do theirs. Or if you are going to work at studio, AAA or indie, it's also an insightful book to evaluate whether the culture cultivated by management is in your best interest so that you have the tools to do your best work without burning out.
  
  
• Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson (Basecamp / Ruby on Rails)
  
  This one is like Peopleware but not as exhaustive, it's an easier read since it's a compilation and edit of blog posts the authors wrote on their old website 37signals. It's more or less about getting stuff done and filtering out noise, simplifying things to make results better -- this one is relatable for planning game project milestones. A lot of it will sound like common sense that a lot of people may say they already know, but it's surprising how many don't actually practice it.

Okay, here are 4 suggestions about theory. There are plenty more, but these are a few of my favourites.

Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals

• Chunky theory book and one of my favourites. Also has a companion book of essays
  
  Characteristics of Games
  
  
• Really nice combination of chapters from various designers (including Richard Garfield of MtG) looking into different aspects of design.
  
  Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design
  
  
• All about systems and how resources move through them in games and the affect that has.
  
  Theory of Fun for Game Design
  
  
• Easy to read, nicely illustrated and conveys a powerful fundamental idea for game design.
  
  Good luck and happy reading.
  

Starting out is an awesome advantage; not yet set in your ways you can find your own style.

While it is true some complex styles can take a lot of time, pixel art can be super simple and often less is more - like lessmilks's games

Working from something is easier than all at once so keep iterating - i.e. start with your current squares and add just squash and stretch to anticipate motion, or eyes to indicate move direction.

Pedro Medeiros has some great pixel art tutorial gifs

An free browser based sprite editor

Using a dedicated program with layers, pallettes and lighting control makes it much easier - this list of pixel art programs might help (Asesprite is great)

At the other extreme if you need lots of animation use a pixel art shader for blender3D
Or use some of the multitude of Free and Open Source pixel art at OpenGameArt and mod it for your needs.

Submit your stuff to /r/pixelart and request constructive criticism.

The Animator's Survival Kit is a great book (& on youtube)on the art of making drawings come alive as is The illusion of life

Look at spritesheets to see how others break animation down into frames.

Jan Willem of Vlambeer has a great talk on tricks to 'juice up your games'

First off, read anything by Carl Jung. His theories on archetypes and the collective unconscious form the groundwork upon which not only games, but the entire modern entertainment industry are built.

Basically Jung argues that there is a collective set of symbols and ideas that all humans, regardless of culture or upbringing will respond to. Understanding these symbols, and building your game around them - either as mechanics or story - allows you to influence how the player will respond.

Jung: A Very Short Introduction is a pretty easy way to get started. After you read that I'd suggest getting into the meat of Jung's own words with The Portable Jung (coincidentally edited by Joseph Campbell)

And with that, you should also read The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. He takes Jung's ideas, and shows the specific symbols used in the Hero's Journey - one of the most common story types. People talk about the Hero's Journey all the time - but it's a really important concept to understand if you're doing any sort of creative works. Here are two quick video primers on it:

A more serious one: Ted Ed: What Makes a Hero

A more awesome one: Glove and Boots: The Hero's Journey :)

If you want to go further on the narrative route I'd also suggest The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker. He takes the Hero's Journey and shows how it is just one of several different plot archetypes, all of which have their own internal path, rules, and idiosyncrasies.

Now, in case you're thinking "Why are you sharing these books about narrative with me? Games are not stories!" remember that people have been responding to stories for all time - and good storytellers are masters at making people feel the desired emotion at the desired time.

Therefore I'd also direct you to Story By Robert McGee as well as Poetics by Aristotle. Both of these books look at story in a mechanical sense, and explain the precise methods storytellers (both ancient Greek ones and modern Hollywood ones) use to evoke emotions in the audience. These principles almost directly translate to game design.

After that I'd suggest looking at Chris Crawford's list of books all game designers should read. Unfortunately I can't find a copy of the list on the internet, but it's at the end of his book Chris Crawford on Game Design

Has this concept worked in any other game? I think you're working with something that is waaay too complex for people to get into. You're making some pretty serious assumptions about what your audience wants to play (or is willing to play). If you move forward I would highly recommend this book specifically because it talks about designing ways to validate all of the assumptions you're making about your target audience. If you're not careful you can spend months and months working on a product that nobody wants. If nobody wants to play then its better for you to figure that our as early in the development cycle as possible. It'll give you a chance to tweak your design or give up and try out your next idea.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous/dp/0307887898/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377410351&sr=8-1&keywords=the+lean+startup

Games that come to mind with similar mix of styles (none as ambitious as yours)

• Natural Selection (RTS + FPS)
  
• Battlefield 2 (Commander plays RTS, everyone else FPS)
  
• Monday Night Combat (MOBA + FPS)
  
• Santcum (Tower defense + FPS)
  
  Good luck, IMO you're gonna need it.

• The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition
  
  
• Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design
  
  
• Theory of Fun for Game Design
  
  
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
  
  
• Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise and Other Bribes
  
  Merry x-mas :)
  

The Aesthetic of Play:

Play takes place in the mind of the player. The book offers heuristics for analyzing the playfulness of a game. This allows you to create intrinsically engaging games – playful games.

Advanced Game Design: A Systems Approach:

Games are essentially systems – parts that interact with each other in complex ways that generate interesting gameplay. You will learn to observe systems, and start to see them everywhere. You will also learn to create them, harnessing complexity and emergence.

Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques:

Not a game design book, but it greatly improved my ability to think creatively, come up with non-obvious solutions, and alter my daily life mindset towards ordinary things. Which is relevant to designing games.

I really enjoyed that book too, but I would say it's basically only about two subjects: state machines and path-finding. It covers them really well but you might want to get another broader book too. Maybe after reading this one.
If you want a broader view - I found this book to be pretty great: http://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Intelligence-Games-Ian-Millington/dp/0123747317/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=09B2HPTBM3NA2CNG477Y

Not really; this is a new area for games (in terms of approaching it with any degree of theory at all). That's one of the reasons why we tackled it at Horseshoe.

In addition to a few sources listed in the Constructing Emergence paper, John Holland's books Hidden Order and Emergence are theoretically useful, but not so much directly (and they're pretty dense). I hit some of this in my game design text, but I'd like to go back and add more to it now!

Nice rundown. Here are some other books I would recommend OP check out:

• Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
  
• Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman
  
• Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
  

For those interested I'd also recommend the book called Designing Games for Children.

The book contains overviews of what's suitable for various age group and also has general advice. There's nothing too deep or detailed there, but it's a good starting point.

Mostly, to keep up with things, I play games. I also read design retrospectives and customer reviews. I use gamasutra a fair bit too. But mostly, it's actually playing games and then thinking about what worked and didn't work.

In regards to books, I'm not a huge fan of "one-size fits all" design, but I found http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Game-Design-Ernest-Adams/dp/0321929675/ a useful book, more geared I think towards starting out though.

Not exactly theory of game design, more like history of game making but really good ;)

• The making of Prince of Persia by Jason Mechner
  
  
• Masters of Doom by David Kushner

This book is pretty decent...

http://www.amazon.com/Free-Play-Making-Money-Games/dp/0321919017

Covers a lot of the basics as well as the main stats and acronyms used by developers. Discusses retention and game loops etc...

Consider The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. Official Site Amazon Link

I think the stuff I recognise from other suggestions is still rather in depth stuff. Some of it is for beginning students of game development, but I don't think that's the same as being aimed at non-game developers.

I would advise reading Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. This book looks at some systems humanity has put in place for itself from a game design perspective.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0099540282/

No problem, people just want to push your own opinions sometimes and not answer the question that was asked.

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700$ pre-tax https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Ideapad-i5-9300H-Processor-81LK00HDUS/dp/B07VC55LF5/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=gaming+laptops&qid=1570576929&refinements=p_36%3A2421888011&rnid=2421885011&sr=8-4

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Looks to be a good one, can defintely handle either engine for game dev

I highly recommend this book for anyone writing a horror anything - book, film or game. It's packed with great advice on what makes things scary in stories. (Google and you should find a cheaper ebook version.)

Three things that the author points out that makes things scary in horror media is for the Scary Thing to be:
a. A genuine physical threat to the character,
b. Creates a feeling of disgust in the viewer (the "do not touch me" factor),
c. Breaks boundaries.

A wolf is intimidating because it's a physical threat. But it's not necessarily horrifying.

A rabid wolf is scarier, due to its disease. But it's not necessarily disgusting.

A wolf suffering from a flesh-eating disease that is covered in infected ripening pustules, would be disgusting: who wants anything with a pustule touching them?

A wolf, suffering from a flesh-eating disease, covered in infected pustules, that is as intelligent as a human being: scary. It's human-like thinking breaks the boundary between animal and human.

A good example of this theory in practice are the Cenobites from Hellraiser.

Pinhead is physically intimidating: he thinks, and razor-edged chains wrap themselves around you and slowly slice you to ribbons.
He looks like a day-old corpse - shiny, moist grey skin - and has nails sticking out of his head.
He also breaks physical AND moral boundaries: he's a man that willingly became immortal demon who practices BDSM.