Fundamentals of Game Design

To create a great video game, you must start with a solid game design: A well-designed game is easier to build, more entertaining, and has a better chance of succeeding in the marketplace. Here to teach you the essential skills of player-centric game design is one of the industry€s leading authorities, who offers a first-hand look into the process, from initial concept to final tuning.

Now in its second edition, this updated classic reference by Ernest Adams offers a complete and practical approach to game design, and includes material on concept development, gameplay design, core mechanics, user interfaces, storytelling, and balancing. In an easy-to-follow approach, Adams analyzes the specific design challenges of all the major game genres and shows you how to apply the principles of game design to each one. You€ll learn how to:

• Define the challenges and actions at the heart of the gameplay.
• Write a high-concept document, a treatment, and a full design script.
• Understand the essentials of user interface design and how to define a game€s look and feel.
• Design for a variety of input mechanisms, including the Wii controller and multi-touch iPhone.
• Construct a game€s core mechanics and flow of resources (money, points, ammunition, and more).
  
• Develop appealing stories, game characters, and worlds that players will want to visit, including persistent worlds.
• Work on design problems with engaging end-of-chapter exercises, design worksheets, and case studies.
• Make your game accessible to broader audiences such as children, adult women, people with disabilities, and casual players.

€œErnest Adams provides encyclopedic coverage of process and design issues for every aspect of game design, expressed as practical lessons that can be immediately applied to a design in-progress. He offers the best framework I€ve seen for thinking about the relationships between core mechanics, gameplay, and player€"one that I€ve found useful for both teaching and research.€ €" Michael Mateas, University of California at Santa Cruz, co-creator of Fa§ade