I was wondering whether anyone is able to suggest any reliable books for game design, I've been browsing through a list of them but I really don't know which one is suitable for me. As I am only starting out in the buisness plus I'm quite young (15) I just thought that someone here might be able to give me some suggestions. Thanks. Tom

I've found the best books to learn about game design are NOT books on game design, though there are alot of great books on game design also. Here is my list:

(Note: This list got really long, but with descriptions of each book it should help you choose which ones you want to look more in to.)

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- The Design of Everyday Things - Donald A Norman

Light switches, VCRs, washing machines, toasters... you will learn more about user interface (not just GUI, but overall intuitive interfaces) from this book then any game design book can teach you.


- The Art of Interactive Design - Chris Crawford

Note: this man is an ass. A brilliant, brilliant ass. A must read.


- The Fat Man on Game Audio - George Sanger

Yes, the book claims to be on game audio. Yes, the author is a legendary game audio god. Yes, the book contains alot of information about game audio.

All of that same information is not only relevant to game design, it is a necessity. One of the best books I have ever read.


- Amusing Ourselves to Death - Neil Postman

A brilliant, well thought out attack on the media that will change the way you look at all forms of entertainment.


- Rules of Play - Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman

Ok, so this one IS about game design, but games at their very essence: games as play, no cut-scene storytelling or genre-enforcing bullshit.


- Swords and Circuitry - Neal Hallford

Another game focused on game design. While the book is focused on "Role Playing" (whatever the hell that is, nobody can agree on), the concepts in the book are very good and the reading style is fast and easy.


- A Theory of Fun for Game Design - Ralph Koster

A fun book to read, and insightful, but ultimately a bit scattered.


- Gender Inclusive Game Design - Sheri Graner Ray

While the title seems to be a bit feminazi/vagithug, the book is a very good lesson not in "making games for women" but in "not excluding anybody, women, minorities, fat people, anybody from wanting to play your game".


- Game Design : Secrets of the Sages - Marc Saltzman

Stories from the frontlines, some of the best in the business discussing everything from game design to development to characters to... everything.


Now for books to stay away from at all costs:



- Creating Emotion in Games - David Freeman

Pure Hollywood bullshit. A great read once you've established knowledge of interactivity, but a terrible beginners book due to it's promotion of "Metal Gear Solid" type shallow/linear storytelling.


- Ultimate Game Design - Tom Meigs

Have you ever sat for five minutes and thought about game design? Then you've thought of everything in this book. It can't decide whether it's a book on game design or level design, but ultimately it falls short on both.

Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design.

I've got a signed copy of it and I've been reading over it for quite some time. It's wide-covering, so it isn't the best if you're really aiming for something specific, but it's a real good base. I personally recommend all of Adams' material. He has a column on Gamasutra, look it up.

Game Architecture and Design by Andrew Rollings and Dave Morris: A good book that delves deeper into game theory and other base level of game design as well as looking at creating an arcitechural plan and implimentation of the game design, and methods of team and business structures for game development. Very comprehensive and detailed as well as being easy to read.

Reading list that we had:

Beginning OpenGL Game Programming by Dave Astle

Massively Multiplayer Game Development (Game Development Series) by Thor Alexander

Massively Multiplayer Game Development 2 (Game Development) by Thor Alexander

Designing Virtual Worlds by Richard Bartle

The C++ Programming Language (Special 3rd Edition) by Bjarne Stroustrup

The Definitive Guide to MySQL, Second Edition by Michael Kofler

Learning Python, Second Edition

Twisted Network Programming Essentials

Python Cookbook

Programming Python, Second Edition

Python Pocket Reference

Masters of Doom (a book about John Romero and John Carmack)

Cool thanks very much for your suggestions. I was also just searching on the net for books on game design and I came accross Game Design for Teens, I'm a teen so I dont know if this will be a good one or not, anyone know of it?