Best Game Design Books
When it comes to educating yourself on Game Design, plenty of great resources exist to educate yourself. While many concepts are taught via YouTube or other sites, they often need more detail and thoroughness of a good old-fashioned book!
As a Game Designer in Video Games, here is my curated list of suggested reading. Many of these books sit on my shelf, dog-eared and well-loved, with highlighters and pencil scribbles marring their surface. I will update this list when a new tome of knowledge comes across my desk, and if there are any recommendations, I welcome you to add them in the comments section below.
A Theory of Fun for Game Design
By Raph Koster
My penultimate pick for Game Design books; if you forced me to choose just one book to recommend, it's Raph Koster's A Theory of Fun for Game Design. This book does a fantastic job of putting into words the things we, as game designers, all take for granted: why do we play? Through the book, Koster lays out game design concepts from learning and executing skills, the thrill of discovery, and games as a framework for players to engage.
Author Raph Koster <https://www.raphkoster.com/> is a legendary game designer whose work includes Ultima Online, Everquest II, and Star Wars Galaxies.
I also feel compelled to mention, that while the artwork may come across as fairly rudimentary and of a less than professional quality, don't let it fool you. The contents of this book are some of the most thoughtful and insightful reading you can get on the subject.
Ask Iwata
by Satoru Iwata edited by Hobonichi
Ask Iwata is a collection of lessons from decades of experience from one of the most revered figures in gaming. Satoru Iwata was the president of Nintendo for over a decade, before which he did hands-on work as a programmer on many key games like Earthbound, Balloon Fight, and Golf. As president, Iwata was critical in growing Nintendo and oversaw the release of consoles like the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.
The number of figures in Video Games who've influenced it so heavily are few and far between. This book collects a series of stories from Satoru Iwata's life and highlights from an interview series run, also called Ask Iwata.
This book is worth its weight in gold, as it covers insights that only Iwata could provide from his history and roles. From empowering people on your team to succeed to player-first game design, the book covers a myriad of topics to pull from. This book is a must-have part of any Game Designer's library.
The Creative Gene
by Hideo Kojima
Hideo Kojima is another legend of the video game industry. Kojima is most known for his distinct style and authorship in the games he creates, such as the Metal Gear series and Death Stranding. Kojima is one of the few game designers that I believe to have a particular vision and style that clearly influences their work with consistency. Often in games, there is a strong degree of dilution where you can't necessarily detect an author's hand in the creation - but not so with Kojima. Kojima's work is distinctly cinematic, bizarre, and unafraid to break convention.
This magnificent deviancy is why I find The Creative Gene to be so important of a read. As Game Designers, I believe that we struggle with authorship in the face of technical optimization and the conservative nature of business software development. Kojima discusses his influences throughout this book through a series of small essays written as recommendations for books, movies, and the like. Similar to small snippets of recommendations on a book's back cover, Kojima talks only briefly about the work itself and instead focuses on the meaning it brought him through his own lens.
This act of taking inspiration and filtering it into your game design work is a core skill that isn't taught through any YouTube video or Game Academy course but instead a way to live your live where you soak up inspiration like a dry sponge. The Creative Gene can help you become a cipher for finding your voice in a world around you that is just brimming with content.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand their inspirations better and relate them to their game design process.
How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself
by Matt Hackett
"How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself is a guide for anyone who wants to make their own video game. Read this book to learn how to locate the itch you're eager to scratch, how to pick a game engine that will power your vision, how to find the fun in playing your unique game... and much more"
What I love about this book is how up-front and approachable it is. The contents are exactly what it says on the cover. The guidance is easy to access and presented without ego or insight held back. This is an excellent read for anyone who's going through the process of making your own game for the first time, or someone who could benefit from going back to basics.
This book would be an excellent gift for friends and family who have expressed an interest in Game Design but need a non-technical first step into the process. A strength of the book is it doesn't focus in on particular workflows and instead teaches the techniques of getting unstuck and finding information. Instead of taking a lot of time going through specific engine information, author Matt Hackett focuses instead on the mindset and processes of why to make a decision.
This title is the more recent addition to my collection, and it's a refreshing step-by-step approach to making games in an easy-to-read format. I highly recommend it!