The Pyramid of Game Design

The Pyramid of Game Design

Author: Nicholas Lovell

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2018-12-07

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 0429815662

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Game design is changing. The emergence of service games on PC, mobile and console has created new expectations amongst consumers and requires new techniques from game makers. In The Pyramid of Game Design, Nicholas Lovell identifies and explains the frameworks and techniques you need to deliver fun, profitable games. Using examples of games ranging from modern free-to-play titles to the earliest arcade games, via PC strategy and traditional boxed titles, Lovell shows how game development has evolved, and provides game makers with the tools to evolve with it. Harness the Base, Retention and Superfan Layers to create a powerful Core Loop. Design the player Session to keep players playing while being respectful of their time. Accept that there are few fixed rules: just trade-offs with consequences. Adopt Agile and Lean techniques to "learn what you need you learn" quickly Use analytics, paired with design skills and player feedback, to improve the fun, engagement and profitability of your games. Adapt your marketing techniques to the reality of the service game era Consider the ethics of game design in a rapidly changing world. Lovell shows how service games require all the skills of product game development, and more. He provides a toolset for game makers of all varieties to create fun, profitable games. Filled with practical advice, memorable anecdotes and a wealth of game knowledge, the Pyramid of Game Design is a must-read for all game developers.


The Art of Game Design

The Art of Game Design

Author: Jesse Schell

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2014-11-06

Total Pages: 604

ISBN-13: 1466598646

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Good game design happens when you view your game from as many perspectives as possible. Written by one of the world's top game designers, The Art of Game Design presents 100+ sets of questions, or different lenses, for viewing a game’s design, encompassing diverse fields such as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, puzzle design, and anthropology. This Second Edition of a Game Developer Front Line Award winner: Describes the deepest and most fundamental principles of game design Demonstrates how tactics used in board, card, and athletic games also work in top-quality video games Contains valuable insight from Jesse Schell, the former chair of the International Game Developers Association and award-winning designer of Disney online games The Art of Game Design, Second Edition gives readers useful perspectives on how to make better game designs faster. It provides practical instruction on creating world-class games that will be played again and again.


The F2P Toolbox

The F2P Toolbox

Author: Nicholas Lovell

Publisher: Gamesbrief

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9780992982904

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54 of the most important and high-impact ideas in modern game design, presented in easy to understand summary cards and explained in full detail on the facing page. This is a practical book aimed at helping you to understand and implement F2P systems that will make your game profitable, successful and, most of all, fun. Perfect for those embarking on their first F2P project and experienced developers seeking to refine their techniques alike, The F2P Toolbox draws on years of experience of F2P games and businesses to give you no-nonsense advice and guidelines that will improve your business and delight your players.


The Essentials of Casino Game Design

The Essentials of Casino Game Design

Author: Dan Lubin

Publisher:

Published: 2016-10-11

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9781935396727

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The Essentials of Casino Game Design is a handbook for aspiring or practicing game designers. It explains, in detail, the techniques of designing a casino game that actually works. The author, Dan Lubin, is an experienced game designer. He not only succeeded as an independent, with EZ Pai Gow and Double Blackjack, to name only a couple, but also worked as a table-games designer and manager for big gaming corporations, including Galaxy Gaming, the largest independent supplier of table games in the world. His approach in this book is more than just giving advice in the how-to style. Rather, he walks aspiring table-game designers through the decision points, and the reasoning behind them, that can make or break a game. Aside from main game design, topics also include proper side-bet development, including as a stand-alone money maker, game protection, game design, technical writing, and business and negotiation considerations.


Players Making Decisions

Players Making Decisions

Author: Zack Hiwiller

Publisher: New Riders

Published: 2015-12-09

Total Pages: 646

ISBN-13: 013439464X

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Game designers today are expected to have an arsenal of multi-disciplinary skills at their disposal in the fields of art and design, computer programming, psychology, economics, composition, education, mythology—and the list goes on. How do you distill a vast universe down to a few salient points? Players Making Decisions brings together the wide range of topics that are most often taught in modern game design courses and focuses on the core concepts that will be useful for students for years to come. A common theme to many of these concepts is the art and craft of creating games in which players are engaged by making meaningful decisions. It is the decision to move right or left, to pass versus shoot, or to develop one’s own strategy that makes the game enjoyable to the player. As a game designer, you are never entirely certain of who your audience will be, but you can enter their world and offer a state of focus and concentration on a task that is intrinsically rewarding. This detailed and easy-to-follow guide to game design is for both digital and analog game designers alike and some of its features include: A clear introduction to the discipline of game design, how game development teams work, and the game development process Full details on prototyping and playtesting, from paper prototypes to intellectual property protection issues A detailed discussion of cognitive biases and human decision making as it pertains to games Thorough coverage of key game elements, with practical discussions of game mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics Practical coverage of using simulation tools to decode the magic of game balance A full section on the game design business, and how to create a sustainable lifestyle within it


The Game Design Toolbox

The Game Design Toolbox

Author: Martin Annander

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2023-12-06

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 1000998223

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This book presents 71 practical game design tools that readers can use to solve real-world game design problems. Written to be a "toolbox" for game designers, it offers a hands-on approach with clear and easy-to-use tools so that readers can quickly find the right solution to the problem they are facing. This book is divided into six game design phases: ideation, exploration, commitment, problem solving, balancing, and tuning. Each category contains an array of relevant tools, and the accompanying indexes offer suggestions for tools to use for specific problems. Support Materials for this book offer further teaching materials, exercises, and complementary FAQs. Written to be a practical resource, this book will be a useful toolbox for junior and veteran game designers alike.


The Curve

The Curve

Author: Nicholas Lovell

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780670923212

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'The curve' means accepting that millions of people now expect your product for free - because a small number of high spenders are enough to build a profitable business. In games, free is the norm, but some fans now spend thousands of dollars while playing a single title. That means the focus is no longer how many units you can sell. It is how you can satisfy those users who are happy to pay for things they value. 'The curve' shows you how to forge relationships with your biggest fans and sustain long-term success.


Elements of Game Design

Elements of Game Design

Author: Robert Zubek

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2020-08-18

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 0262043912

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An introduction to the basic concepts of game design, focusing on techniques used in commercial game production. This textbook by a well-known game designer introduces the basics of game design, covering tools and techniques used by practitioners in commercial game production. It presents a model for analyzing game design in terms of three interconnected levels—mechanics and systems, gameplay, and player experience—and explains how novice game designers can use these three levels as a framework to guide their design process. The text is notable for emphasizing models and vocabulary used in industry practice and focusing on the design of games as dynamic systems of gameplay. The book first introduces the core model and framework for analyzing and designing games. It then discusses the three levels in detail, explaining player experience and identifying design goals; introducing low-level structural analysis of gameplay in terms of basic mechanics; describing how mechanics build up into systems; and presenting concepts for understanding gameplay, defined as the dynamic behavior of players when they interact with mechanics and systems. Finally, the book offers students advice on creating game prototypes using an iterative, user-centered process. Each chapter offers a set of exercises for individuals and design challenges for groups.


Game Feel

Game Feel

Author: Steve Swink

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2008-10-13

Total Pages: 377

ISBN-13: 1482267330

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"Game Feel" exposes "feel" as a hidden language in game design that no one has fully articulated yet. The language could be compared to the building blocks of music (time signatures, chord progressions, verse) - no matter the instruments, style or time period - these building blocks come into play. Feel and sensation are similar building blocks whe