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Hej hej, Ragnar here and this is RagnarRox, where we talk about Game Design.
In today's commentary episode, I want to address one of the questions I get asked more frequently.
It's basically a variation of: Is there any good literature on game design
you would recommend?
In the background, you will see my friend Joji show you how to shoot a bow in Skyrim
- like a true Viking. Check out his amazing RPG guides and lore
videos on his channel, I'm sure you're gonna enjoy it.
Now, there is a lot of good material on game design you can find when you datamine the
internet - if you're generally interested in the topic there's also good shows on youtube
and I'm still a strong supporter of the hypothesis that Game Design is such an undefined mixture
of art and science, that you can learn a lot about it by just employing your observational
skills - if you happen to have any.
But while you can also learn to build a house by trial and error until you succeed, it's
probably a lot more effective if you rely on wisdom that experts have gathered over
decades of theoretical and practical experience and learn and rely on techniques that have
proven valuable and reliable instead of inventing the wheel all over again.
So that's why in the same way, I believe it's really good advice if you're interested in
how video games are made, to just grab a good old book to accelerate your own learning process
drastically. You know, one of those archaic tomes of wisdom, made of real paper and that
- or, well, you could also just use your kindle... just... take your pick.
's your choice...
So in this video, I'm gonna recommend a range of different approaches, some more theoretical, some more playful and
experimental - so no matter if you're a game designer who wants to widen their horizon
or you're interested in getting a better grasp on how video games are made...
just check it out, maybe you'll find something that you like.
I'll put the ISBN numbers in the description, so you can find them at your local bookstore
or search them in the online reseller of your heart.
Let's get going.
1 Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals (Katie Salen, Eric Zimmerman)
The first in my list is probably the most obvious choice, it's "Rules of Play" by Katie
Salen and Eric Zimmerman, which is considered to be something like the "Game Design Bible"
by scholars and designers alike and that's not only because of its impressive size and
its density of information, but also because it's in many ways the standard compendium
- the perfect reference book to have in your shelf.
It dissects the medium "video game" with a special emphasis on rules, play and culture
and if you're willing to chew through its vast amount of information, it will educate
you on terminology that helps you express concepts you may have been thinking about
for a long time... way more concisely than before.
Just don't try to impress people at a dinner party with your impressive set of game-design
lingo ... trust me. It doesn't work.
2 The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses (Jesse Schell)
As the title suggests, this book by Jesse Schell tries to approach games from a huge
variety of different angles - because there's not just one reason we play games. Some people
enjoy the sports aspect, some consider video games a mental challenge and others enjoy
it for its storytelling potential, distraction, escapism, fun - ah, so many different reasons
of why to play, not only video games, but board games, role playing games, sports, puzzles,
theme park games... The Art of Game design goes into one hundred
different questions - or lenses as the book's title suggests to ponder about that can and
probably will help you make your games better - or help you understand the games you enjoy
even more.
3 Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design (Scott Rogers)
While the first books can be a bit intimidating - this is the one that I would recommend to
read for starters. While the former books are rather academic, this one is enjoyable
and just a bliss to read, illustrated with appealing, funny and explanatory cartoon art,
it makes game design easily approachable and uses a language that's more akin to the gamer
than the scholar. So if you were the kid that always hated books
with no pictures in it - this one's for you!
4 A Theory of Fun for Game Design (Ralph Koster)
A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Ralph Koster takes a slightly different and less practical
approach - and actually it's exactly what it says on the tin.
It's a theory about fun - or more precisely it tries to examine and explain why and how
the sensation of fun, amusement, etc. develops in our brains - so, yes, it is not a guide
on "how to make this and that particular type of game" and it's not so much about rules,
as it is about understanding the concepts of why we enjoy all of this in the first place.
When you learn a certain skill - let's take programming for example. When you learn how
to code in C++, you can mostly get "the job done" and improve and all when you just focus
on learning the tools that language offers you. But digging deeper, getting behind how
a computer system and the deeper layers of abstraction work at a core level might not
make you understand a for each loop, but it'll provide you with a holistic set of knowledge
that can become very very important, often enough in situations where you'd least expect
it.
Well yeah - that's pretty much Ralph Koster's approach in this book - just with.. game design.
Okay, next.
Now, in case you want something like the Jack of all Trades - if i'd have to recommend only
one book to you, then it would be
5 Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games
by Tracy Fullerton, because it offers a bit of everything.
It begins with the absolute basics, discussing the roots of where game ideas come from, and
ends with a treatise on the inner-workings of the game publishing industry.
It goes a bit into theory without ever getting boring and too academic, but most of all,
it hammers home some of the most important cornerstones of what is necessary to effectively
become a better designer in practice. By focusing on the importance of prototyping
and iterative design - that is test often, test early, and - because all theory is worth
nothing without practical application, by giving you fun, interesting and effective
challenges it holds your hand to actively teach you to employ concepts and develop and
implement rulesets instead of just passively reading about them.
It's thick and densely packed with information, but it's at the same time super interesting,
effective and engaging.
So yeah - if somebody would ask me "if you could take only one game design book on a
lonely island" (one of the most common questions in basic human smalltalk) - well, it would
be this one. I mean, it's about 450 pages long, so when you're through, that's a lot
of useful material for crafting stuff or at least a lot of toilet paper.
... hm.. what a sacrilege.
Thank you for watching - if you've learned something useful, please leave a like -
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My name is Ragnar - and I'll see you next time - on RagnarRox.