Learn the mechanics that take your game from an idea to a playable product.Do you aspire to be a game designer but aren’t sure where to begin? Learning Video Game Design on the Tabletop guides you through your initial attempts to design game mechanics. It goes beyond simple description and definition to explore in detail the issues that designers grapple with for every game they create.Learning to design tabletop games builds a solid foundation for game designers a...

Now in full color, the 10th anniversary edition of this classic book takes you deep into the influences that underlie modern video games, and examines the elements they share with traditional games such as checkers. At the heart of his exploration, veteran game designer Raph Koster takes a close look at the concept of fun and why it’s the most vital element in any game.Why do some games become boring quickly, while others remain fun for years? How do games serve as fundamental and ...

The Art of Game Design guides you through the design process step-by-step, helping you to develop new and innovative games that will be played again and again. It explains the fundamental principles of game design and demonstrates how tactics used in classic board, card and athletic games also work in top-quality video games.Good game design happens when you view your game from as many perspectives as possible, and award-winning author Jesse Schell presents over 10...

Ready to give your design skills a real boost? This eye-opening book helps you explore the design structure behind most of today's hit video games. You'll learn principles and practices for crafting games that generate emotionally charged experiences - a combination of elegant game mechanics, compelling fiction, and pace that fully immerses players.In clear and approachable prose, design pro Tynan Sylvester also looks at the day-to-day process necessary to keep your project on trac...

The father of virtual reality explains its dazzling possibilities by reflecting on his own lifelong relationship with technology.Named one of the best books of 2017 by The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, & Vox"A deeply human, highly personal, and beautifully told story." —Dave EggersBridging the gap between tech mania and the experience of being inside the human body , Dawn of the Ne...

Gain a deeper understanding of games and game design through 18 pioneering frameworks—with examples from board games, computer games, video games, and more.As pop culture, games are as important as film or television—but game design has yet to develop a theoretical framework or critical vocabulary. In Rules of Play Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman present a much-needed primer for this emerging field. They offer a unified model for looking at all kinds of gam...

If you are thinking of opening an escape game or are wondering what goes on behind-the-scenes at an escape game this book is for you.Escape the Game addresses the most common questions that people have about designing, making, and running escape rooms.In the book you will discover:-How to design for a fun play experience-What documentation you need-How to design for a fun play experience-Ways to make sure your escape room succeeds-How to c...

Over the coming decades, Artificial Intelligence will profoundly impact the way we live, work, wage war, play, seek a mate, educate our young, and care for our elderly. It is likely to greatly increase our aggregate wealth, but it will also upend our labor markets, reshuffle our social order, and strain our private and public institutions. Eventually it may alter how we see our place in the universe, as machines pursue goals independent of their creators and outperform us in domains previo...

Tabletop board games are having a comeback, and especially within a younger, tech-y audience who enjoys the challenge and opportunity to work in an analog sphere. Game design expert Jesse Terrance Daniels teaches all the fundamentals of game design, from rule-setting to physical construction, along with original illustrations that capture the ethos and energy of the young, contemporary gaming community.Readers will learn the “building blocks” of game design, including game componen...

"Anna Anthropy is a key personality in the ongoing paradigm shift that is slowly changing the way videogames are understood, by creators and players, and by the wider culture."—Patrick Alexander, Eegra.com"Equal parts autobiography, ethnography, and how-to manual, this book concisely makes the case for the unique power of 'zinester' games."—Adam Parrish, NYU's Interactive Telecommunication Program (Tisch School of the Arts), and author of the ZZT game "Winter"...

Many aspiring game designers have crippling misconceptions about the process involved in creating a game from scratch, believing a "big idea" is all that is needed to get started. But game design requires action as well as thought, and proper training and practice to do so skillfully. In this indispensible guide, a published commercial game designer and longtime teacher offers practical instruction in the art of video and tabletop game design. The topics explored include the varying types ...

From the director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory—“a stimulating book written by one of the major players in the field—perhaps the major player.... Offers surprisingly deep glimpses into what it is to be human” (The New York Times Book Review).Are we really on the brink of having robots to mop our floors, do our dishes, mow our lawns, and clean our windows? And are researchers that close to creating robots that can think, feel, repair themsel...