Book Recommendations:
- Game Design Books… Recommendations? (TIGSource Forums)
- Must Read Game Development Books (Gamedev.Stackechange)
- Good Game Design Books (Gamedev.Stackechange)
Game Design Books:
- Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design
- The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
- Game Feel: A Game Designer’s Guide to Virtual Sensation
Articles about Gameplay Mechanics
- No Twinkie Database – Even Great Games Can Include Design Errors (Designer’s Notebook)
- Principles of Virtual Sensation (Steve Swink)
- Game Design FAQ (Huge Resource by Tom Sloper)
- Gameplay Deconstruction: Elements and Layers (Game Career Guide)
- The 13 Basic Principles of Gameplay Design (Gamasutra)
- The Chemistry Of Game Design (Gamasutra)
- Evaluating Game Mechanics For Depth (Gamasutra)
- Anatomy Of A Game Mechanic (Gamasutra)
- Finishing A Game (Make games)
- Designing Games That Don’t Suck (Gamasutra)
- The Fundamentals Of Game Design (Raph Koster)
- Less Talk More Rock (Boing Boing)
- Indie Gains (Adam “Atomic” Saltsman)
- Minimsed Game Design For Indies (DevMag)
- What Is Game Design? (The Book Of Hook)
- Game Design (The Book Of Hook)
- “Design of Everyday Things” Applied to Game Design (The Book Of Hook)
- Game Design Essentials: 20 Real-World Games (Gamasutra)
- Six Ways To Tell Stories In Video Games (Untold Entertainment)
Discussions
- How To Design Games? (TIGSource Forums)
- Games That Made You Laugh (TIGSource Forums)
- Most Unique Games You Know (TIGSource Forums)
- Making A “Classic” Game? (TIGSource Forums)
- In A Perfect World, Every Game Would… (TIGSource Forums)
Rules For Games: Do & Don’t
- Rules For Games: Do & Don’t #1 (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
- Rules For Games: Do & Don’t #2 (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
- Rules For Games: Do & Don’t #3 (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
- Indie Game Design Do-s and Don’t-s: A Manifesto (Edmund McMillen / Gamasutra)
- Indie Game Design Do-s and Don’t-s: A Manifesto (Edmund McMillen / Indie Games Blog)
- Sid’s Rules (Designer Notes)
- Seven Deadly Sins for Strategy Games (Designer Notes)
Platformer Design
- The guide to implementing 2D platformers (comprehensive article about platformers / Rodrigo Monteiro)
- Platforming Camera (article with a video that shows the camera logic of Super Mario World / Kyle Pulver)
- Smart Platformer Camera Movement (article with animated gifs about platformer camera mechanics / Yuan Works)
- Sequelitis : Mega Man Classic vs. Mega Man X (game design stuff explained with Mega Man as the example / Egoraptor) [VIDEO]
- Petri and Martin Explore Platformer Physics [VIDEO]
- The Full Spelunky On Spelunky (Derek Yu)
- Making Platforming Games (Subtractive Design)
- Guide to Making Metroidvania Style Games – Part 1 (Subtractive Design)
- Guide to Making Metroidvania Style Games – Part 2 (Subtractive Design)
- Platforming Games 101: Running, Jumping & More (Racketboy)
- Why The Platformer Still Matters (GameInformer)
- A Detailed Cross-Examination of Yesterday and Today’s Best-Selling Platform Games (Gamasutra)
- 2D Platformers: A Discussion On The Deconstruction Of A Genre (reddit gamedev)
- Platformer Level Design In 11 Points (Pixeltao)
- Super Mario World Camera Analysis [VIDEO]
- 2D Platformer Design Studies (TIGSource Forums)
- Pressure Techniques in Platformer Level Design (Noble Kale)
- Super Mario Bros. Level Design Lesson: to the right, hold on tight (Auntie Pixelante)
- Sketching Platformer Mechanics In Flash (How To Not Suck At Game Design)
- Difficulty In Platformers (Team Meat)
- 2D vs 3D (Designer Notes)
- Game Design Essentials: 20 Difficult Games (Gamasutra)
- Super Mario Bros 101: What SMB Can Teach You (8bithorse)
- 11 Tips For Making A Fun Platformer (DevMag)
- What Made Those Old 2D Platformers So Great? (Significant Bits)
- Super Mario Bros. 3 Level Design Lessons – Part 1 (Significant Bits)
- Super Mario Bros. 3 Level Design Lessons – Part 2 (Significant Bits)
- The Greatest Collectible Of All Time (Significant Bits)
Videos
- Sequelitis : Mega Man Classic vs. Mega Man X (Game Design / Level Design explained by Egoraptor with Mega Man as the example) [VIDEO]
- Extra Credits Series [VIDEO]
- Extra Credits – Playing Like A Designer Part 1 [VIDEO]
- Extra Credits – Playing Like A Designer Part 2 [VIDEO]
- Understanding Games (Episode 1-4) (Kongregate) [VIDEO]
- Master Class In Video Games & Digital Media (a series of lectures and interviews by Warren Spectorwith fellow game developers)
How To Not Suck At Game Design
- 5 Types Of Things To Keep Around For Game Designers.
- XBLA Games And The Importance Of Good Game Design
- Big And Scary: The Science Of Size In Video Games
- Game And Swatch: Color Theory For Game Designers – Part 1
- Game And Swatch: Color Theory For Game Designers – Part 2
- Regarding The Gameplay-Vs-Story Bullshit
- From Conversattion To Satisfaction
- Almanac Of Awesomeness: Ninja Part 1
- Top Down Hyrule Over The Ages
- To Kill Or Not To Kill – Part 1
- To Kill Or Not To Kill – Part 2
- Points Of Reference
Genre
- Become A Genre Scavenger (Black Golem)
- Celebrating Frontiers In Game Design – Create New Genre Of Game? (Lostgarden)
Game Polish
- Basic Principles Of Game Optimisation (Cliffski / Positech Games)
- The Art Of Game Polish: Developers Speak (Gamasutra)
User Interface Design
Difficulty
- Risk / Reward (Team Meat)
- Reward Systems, An Excerpt From Level Design: Concept, Theory, and Practice (Gamasutra)
- Difficulty In Platformers (Team Meat)
- The Difficulty Of Difficulty (DevMag)
- Game Difficulty & Consumer Expectations (Game Tycoon)
- How Complex (Positech Games)
- Challenging Design (Designer Notes)
- Our Cheatin’ Hearts (Designer Notes)
- Action Adventure Level Design, Part 1 (Gamasutra)
- Action Adventure Level Design: Kung Fu Zombie Killer (Gamasutra)
- Action Adventure Level Design: Pacing, Content, and Mood (Gamasutra)
Game Design Documents
- Gamestorm (user submitted doodles and sketches of games!)
- Game Design Documents Tutorial (Studio Eres)
- The Design Document (TIGSource Forums)
- Creating A Great Deisgn Document (Gamasutra)
- Game Design 101 (Sloperama)
- A Practical Guide to Game Writing (McDevitt / Gamasutra)
- The Game Design Process (GameDev.net)
- Game Design Cheat Sheet (TIGSource Forums)
- Moncao Original Design Documents
- Three Hundred Gameplay Mechanics (Squidi)
- Achievement Design 101 (Gamasutra)
- Achievements Considered Harmful (Chris Hecker)
Game Design Concepts (Ian Schreiber)
- Level 1: Overview / What is a Game?
- Level 2: Game Design / Iteration and Rapid Prototyping
- Level 3: Formal Elements of Games
- Level 4: The Early Stages of the Design Process
- Level 5: Mechanics and Dynamics
- Level 6: Games and Art
- Level 7: Decision-Making and Flow Theory
- Level 8: Kinds of Fun, Kinds of Players
- Level 9: Stories and Games
- Level 10: Nonlinear Storytelling
- Level 11: Design Project Overview
- Level 12: Solo Testing
- Level 13: Playing With Designers
- Level 14: Playing with Non-Designers
- Level 15: Blindtesting
- Level 16: Game Balance
- Level 17: User Interfaces
- Level 18: The Final Iteration
- Level 19: Game Criticism and Analysis
Game Balance Concepts (Ian Schreiber)
- Level 1: Intro to Game Balance
- Level 2: Numeric Relationships
- Level 3: Transitive Mechanics and Cost Curves
- Level 4: Probability and Randomness
- Level 5: Probability and Randomness Gone Horribly Wrong
- Level 6: Situational Balance
- Level 7: Advancement, Progression and Pacing
- Level 8: Metrics and Statistics
- Level 9: Intransitive Mechanics
- Level 10: Final Boss
Game Length
- Game Length And Value (Wolfire)
- Size Doesn’t Matter (Positech Games)
- The Mythical 40-Hour Gamer (Wired)
Character Design
- Visual Clarity In Character Design – Part I
- Visual Clarity In Character Design – Part II
- Character Design: Clone And Customize (How To Not Suck At Game Design)
- Character Design: Left 4 Dead 2 (How To Not Suck At Game Design)
- Create Brief Visual Descriptions Of Characters (TIGSource Forums)
Level Design
- VGMaps (huge amount of screenshots of entire levels from hundreds of games. Note: Site is filled with Poker ads)
- Level Design Primer: Notes on Playtesting
- Level Design Primer: Starting A New Level
- Level Design Primer: Keep It Wide
- Level Design Primer: The Sawtooth
- Level Design Primer: S-Curve Variations
- Intro to Pathfinding (Flash Game Dojo)
- Procedural Content Generation
- Good Level Design… With Kayin
- On Level Design: A Macro Map design and some Ecology!
Artificial Intelligence
- Intro to AI (Flash Game Dojo)
- No More Wrong Turns (Gamasutra)
- AI and Designers Discussion (Designer Notes)
- AI Game Dev
- How AI in Games Works (bit-gamer)
Prototyping
- Quick and Dirty Prototyping: A Success Story (Gamasutra)
- Why Prototyping is so important in game development (Jochen Heinzmann / Intermediaware)
- Prototypes – Get Them Right (IndieVision)
- How To Prototype A Game In Under 7 Days (Gamasutra)
- Save Time And Money: Asset Prototyping (Black Golem)
Sandbox & Open World Design
- The History And Theory Of Sandbox (Gamasutra)
- Open World Issues Part 1: The Rockstar Model
- Open World Issues Part 2: The Bethesda Model
- Open World Issues Part 3: Trust And The Player-driven Narrative
- Open World Design
- Making A World Seem Open And Alive (TIGSource Forums)
- Game Design Essentials: 20 Open World Games (Gamasutra)
Popularity
- 5 Minutes Worth Of Observations About AAA Indie Games (Chris Hecker)
- How Some Games Are Getting Popular? (TIGSource Forums)
- A Brief Explanation Of Why Minecraft Matters (Crunch Gear)
- What Indie Developers Can Learn From Minecraft (Mode 7 Games @Indie DB)
- Why Minecraft Is So Damn Popular (Kotaku)
- Minecraft And The Question Of Luck (Gamasutra)
- Minecraft Illustrates the Two Keys to a Sandbox Game (The Game Prodigy)
- How To Make A Roguelike Popular (TIGSource Forums)
Game Accessibility
- Game Accessibility Top Ten (IGDA Game Access SIG)
- Why is Accessibility Important? (IGDA Game Access SIG)
- How to Provide Accessibility in Games (IGDA Game Access SIG)
- Physical Barriers In Video Games (One Switch)
- Resetting Accessibility In Games (Gamasutra)
Free Books
- Playing To Win (Sirlin / HTML)
- List Of Freely Available Programming Books (Stackoverflow)
- The Art Of Computer Game Design (Chris Crawford / PDF from 1984)
- Gamer Theory 2.0 (McKenzie Wark / HTML)
- Ludoliteracy: Defining, Understanding, and Supporting Games Education
- Beyond Fun: Serious Games and Media
- Well Played 1.0: Video Games, Value and Meaning
- Well Played 2.0: Video Games, Value and Meaning
- Toward a Ludic Architecture: The Space of Play and Games
Uncategorized Articles
- Learn Game Design
- Game Dev Radio
- How To Make Interesting Games By Accident (Wolfire)
- Why Left 4 Dead Works (Gamasutra)
- Game Design Essentials 20 RPGs (Gamasutra)
- Unabusive Design And Why You Wouldn’t Want To Be Mean To Your Players (Wolfire)
- Testosterone And Competitive Play
- Tutorials: Learning To Play (Gamasutra)
- Tetris is Not The Answer Because You Got The Question Wrong (Octopus Journal)
- Boss Battle Design And Structure (Gamasutra)
- Stealth In Videogames And Why It’s So Fun (Wolfire)
- Game Dynamics And Loops In Game Design (What Games Are)
- Functions Vs Loops Finding Fun (What Games Are)
- Extensible Actions (What Games Are)
- Theme Is Not Meaning – Part I (Designer Notes)
- Theme Is Not Meaning – Part II (Designer Notes)
- Asynchronity (Designer Notes)
- Closing the Loop: Fostering Communication In Single Player Games (Gamasutra)
- Lifting The Designer’s Curse (Gamasutra)
- The Designer’s Notebook: Don’t March, Dance! (Gamasutra)
Game Development Sites
Nguồn : pixelprospector.com
