Practical, complete coverage of game design basics from design process to production

This full-color, structured coursebook offers complete coverage of game design basics, focusing on design rather than computer programming. Packed with exercises, assignments, and step-by-step instructions, it starts with an overview of design theory, then progresses to design processes, and concludes with coverage of design production.

Jim Thompson, Barnaby Berbank-Green, and Nic Cusworth (London, UK) are computer game designers and lecturers in animation and computer game design.

Practical, complete coverage of game design basics from design process to production

This full-color, structured coursebook offers complete coverage of game design basics, focusing on design rather than computer programming. Packed with exercises, assignments, and step-by-step instructions, it starts with an overview of design theory, then progresses to design processes, and concludes with coverage of design production.

Jim Thompson, Barnaby Berbank-Green, and Nic Cusworth (London, UK) are computer game designers and lecturers in animation and computer game design.

It was an ok book, but easily forgetable

My title pretty much sums it up. While this was an interesting book, all it did was define the different game types and give very brief descriptions about character, level, and model design. Again fun to read, but nothing I could not have found on the internet.

It’s English - NOT Computer Science

Just a caution for buyers - this book has no code what-so-ever. It is meant for english/literature majors. It has terms about different genres of games and different types of games like the HUB game etc. The information is useless. Why on earth would you want to know things that are obvious and of no use? I don’t get the point of this book. If you are a person who doesn’t know how to define the term "game" or who has never heard of "game", well then maybe this book is for you.

It’s English - NOT Computer Science

Just a caution for buyers - this book is about "design" like it says an not about coding. It is meant for those who want stories and characters for a game with visual effects ex:graphic designers. It has terms about different genres of games and different types of games like the HUB game etc. Yet, I didn’t get the point of this book. I did not feel like I learned anything helpful because most information seemed intuitive. For ex: genres of games (yes, there are first person shooter, strategy and so on.) Moreover, I feel most of the information can easily be gained from the internet. If you are a picture person though, you may like this book.

As well thought out as a AAA game

Recently I started to entertain the idea for a game prototype I had in mind, since I was a bit green on the process I wanted to find a book that will cover the basics and make it all crystal clear for me. Unfortunately most books on the topic were severely out of date, unnecessarily complex or even too expensive to warrant a purchase. That’s when I found Game Design: Principles, Practice, and Techniques and being recently published, it was an added bonus. This book not only takes the reader through the entire process of the production cycle, but it keeps everything light and entertaining with just the right balance of type and a wealth of colored illustrated pages, just the way I like it. And with illustrations on practically every page, it wasn’t hard for a visual guy like me to read the book from cover to cover. (Why are there no programming books like this is beyond me)

Jim Thompson, Barnaby Berbank-Green, and Nic Cusworth keeps the book extremely consistent between the three of them, so well in fact that you won’t realize when another author took over.

The book is broken up into 3 chapters; the first begins with a brief history in video games and takes you through the genres, styles and popular game mechanics used today, which are broken up with practical case studies.
The second chapter then moves unto elaborating on what you previously learnt and applying it to the real world. Everything from creating a game design document to gathering inspiration for concept art, level design and actually taking you through the process of creating a low poly solider from concept to completion. However keep in mind most of the topics are just the fundamentals to get you going, and rarely spans more than two pages since there’s so much to cover, but it’s all well written and flows like a gentle summer breeze. The third chapter then takes you through the pitching process, prototyping and a discussion on industry standard tools.

All in all it was a great book to read and money well spent, I’ve learnt quite a bit, and the only topics I wished they covered more was some programming and asset management, but as it stands the book still makes a great reference and resource.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely! Especially if you’re a bit fuzzy on the process of taking a game from idea to prototype and beyond. Here’s hoping for a 2nd edition expanding into more advanced discussions.