Cover for The Art of Game Design

The Art of Game Design

A Book of Lenses

Book2008

Authors:

Jesse Schell

The Art of Game Design

A Book of Lenses

Book2008

 

Cover for The Art of Game Design

Authors:

Jesse Schell

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Book description

Anyone can master the fundamentals of game design – no technological expertise is necessary. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses shows that the same basic principles of psycho ... read full description

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  2. Book chapterNo access

    Chapter One - In the Beginning, There Is the Designer

    Pages 1-7

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    Chapter Two - The Designer Creates an Experience

    Pages 9-22

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    Chapter Three - The Experience Rises Out of a Game

    Pages 23-38

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    Chapter Four - The Game Consists of Elements

    Pages 39-46

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    Chapter Five - The Elements Support a Theme

    Pages 47-56

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    Chapter Six - The Game Begins with an Idea

    Pages 57-74

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    Chapter Seven - The Game Improves Through Iteration

    Pages 75-95

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    Chapter Eight - The Game is Made for a Player

    Pages 97-112

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    Chapter Nine - The Experience is in the Player's Mind

    Pages 113-128

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    Chapter Ten - Some Elements are Game Mechanics

    Pages 129-169

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    Chapter Eleven - Game Mechanics Must be in Balance

    Pages 171-205

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    Chapter Twelve - Game Mechanics Support Puzzles

    Pages 207-219

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    Chapter Thirteen - Players Play Games Through an Interface

    Pages 221-244

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    Chapter Fourteen - Experiences Can be Judged by Their Interest Curves

    Pages 245-260

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    Chapter Fifteen - One Kind of Experience Is the Story

    Pages 261-281

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    Chapter Sixteen - Story and Game Structures can be Artfully Merged with Indirect Control

    Pages 283-298

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    Chapter Seventeen - Stories and Games Take Place in Worlds

    Pages 299-307

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    Chapter Eighteen - Worlds Contain Characters

    Pages 309-328

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    Chapter Nineteen - Worlds Contain Spaces

    Pages 329-343

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    Chapter Twenty - The Look and Feel of a World Is Defined by Its Aesthetics

    Pages 345-352

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    Chapter Twenty-One - Some Games are Played with Other Players

    Pages 353-356

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    Chapter Twenty-Two - Other Players Sometimes Form Communities

    Pages 357-370

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    Chapter Twenty-Three - The Designer Usually Works with a Team

    Pages 371-380

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    Chapter Twenty-Four - The Team Sometimes Communicates Through Documents

    Pages 381-387

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    Chapter Twenty-Five - Good Games Are Created Through Playtesting

    Pages 389-401

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    Chapter Twenty-Six - The Team Builds a Game with Technology

    Pages 403-413

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    Chapter Twenty-Seven - Your Game Will Probably Have a Client

    Pages 415-421

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    Chapter Twenty-Eight - The Designer Gives the Client a Pitch

    Pages 423-432

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    Chapter Twenty-Nine - The Designer and Client Want the Game to Make a Profit

    Pages 433-439

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    Chapter Thirty - Games Transform Their Players

    Pages 441-452

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    Chapter Thirty-One - Designers Have Certain Responsibilities

    Pages 453-457

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    Chapter Thirty-Two - Each Designer has a Motivation

    Pages 459-461

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    Chapter Thirty-Three - Goodbye

    Pages 463-464

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    Endnotes

    Pages 465-475

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    Bibliography

    Pages 477-479

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    Index

    Pages 481-489

About the book

Publisher's Note: Transferred to Taylor & Francis as of 2012

Description

Anyone can master the fundamentals of game design – no technological expertise is necessary. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses shows that the same basic principles of psychology that work for board games, card games and athletic games also are the keys to making top-quality videogames. Good game design happens when you view your game from many different perspectives, or lenses. While touring through the unusual territory that is game design, this book gives the reader one hundred of these lenses – one hundred sets of insightful questions to ask yourself that will help make your game better. These lenses are gathered from fields as diverse as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, writing, puzzle design, and anthropology. Anyone who reads this book will be inspired to become a better game designer – and will understand how to do it.

Anyone can master the fundamentals of game design – no technological expertise is necessary. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses shows that the same basic principles of psychology that work for board games, card games and athletic games also are the keys to making top-quality videogames. Good game design happens when you view your game from many different perspectives, or lenses. While touring through the unusual territory that is game design, this book gives the reader one hundred of these lenses – one hundred sets of insightful questions to ask yourself that will help make your game better. These lenses are gathered from fields as diverse as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, writing, puzzle design, and anthropology. Anyone who reads this book will be inspired to become a better game designer – and will understand how to do it.

Key Features

* Jesse Schell is a highly recognizable name within the game industry - he is the former chair of the International Game Developer's Association, and has designed many successful games, including Disney's award-winning Toontown Online.

* The book's design methodology was developed at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center, co-founded by Dr. Randy Pausch of "Last Lecture" fame.

* 100 'lenses' are scattered throughout the book. These are boxed sets of questions, each a different way of seeing a game that will inspire the creative process.

* 500 pages of detailed, practical instruction on creating world-class games that will be played again and again.

* Winner of Game Developer's 2008 Front Line Award in the book category

* Jesse Schell is a highly recognizable name within the game industry - he is the former chair of the International Game Developer's Association, and has designed many successful games, including Disney's award-winning Toontown Online.

* The book's design methodology was developed at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center, co-founded by Dr. Randy Pausch of "Last Lecture" fame.

* 100 'lenses' are scattered throughout the book. These are boxed sets of questions, each a different way of seeing a game that will inspire the creative process.

* 500 pages of detailed, practical instruction on creating world-class games that will be played again and again.

* Winner of Game Developer's 2008 Front Line Award in the book category

Details

ISBN

978-0-12-369496-6

Language

English

Published

2008

Copyright

Copyright © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Imprint

Morgan Kaufmann

Authors

Jesse Schell

Carnegie Mellon University