Gamers have a language all their own. Some of it is specific to individual games, but lots of terms or phrases have a common meaning. A few notes here: Note this is written to the new gamer, and is not meant to be an exhaustive list — if something’s missing that...
A “meticulous book about the design of games”, this MIT-published textbook based on a college-level course makes the case that “games are valuable because are a fundamental form of human expression”. The focus here is on “looking...
The original review, as published in October 2019, covered the 1st edition. The links and photos have been updated to refer you to the 2nd edition of the book, which came out in March 2022. I’ve been meaning to review more of the books I’ve been reading behind the...
Part of good playtesting means taking notes, and for better or worse that means a paper notebook. (No way my laptop leaves my house unless it has to, and typing notes into a tablet or smartphone is too slow.) For most of the last two years, I’ve used small...
While far from a complete list of books about game design, these are all books I have read and appreciated. Let’s call this a curated collection of books about game design. Playtesting Best Practices: Real World and Online – Chris Backe Hey, wait a...
Let’s face it — you can’t play everything. As I was learning about game design, I watched everything I could find on Youtube. Edo Baraf’s reviews. Tom Vasel, Sam Healey, and everyone else on the Dice Tower. Wil Wheaton on Tabletop To be...
