The Art of Game Design · 3rd Edition

Jesse Schell takes an unusual approach to game design, an approach that focuses neither on the technological details of game development nor on the analysis of popular games. Instead, the book will propose that the most important skill for a game designer is not creativity as most suppose, but that of listening. The five kinds of listening (team, client, audience, game, and self) are shown to be backbone of all successful game design methods. These methods fall into three categories: understanding the psychology of gameplay and entertainment, using techniques from traditional disciplines in the game design, and processes for inventing new experiences that will fully engage the player. This book fully explains and compares these techniques and presents many case studies of their use. The book will contain excerpts of related writings from a wide variety of sources.

Game design is far from a new art form, but rather a very old one that now, through technology, is able to successfully integrate many other art forms. A successful designer must study aspects of many other fields. To do so, one must examine the work of the masters of these fields, and the book will include excerpts from writers discussing diverse topics such as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, writing, puzzle design, and several others. These elements will give this book a sense of authority and timelessness that is currently lacking in game design books.

* Jesse Schell is a highly recognisable name within the game industry - he is the former chair of the International Game Developer's Association.

* 100 'lenses' are scattered throughout the book. These are boxed tips, showing ways of seeing a game to inspire the creative process.

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