Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games [Paperback]

Tracy Fullerton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 8, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0240809742 | ISBN-13: 978-0240809748 | Edition: 2

Master the craft of game design so you can create that elusive combination of challenge, competition, and interaction that players seek. This design workshop begins with an examination of the fundamental elements of game design; then puts you to work in prototyping, playtesting and redesigning your own games with exercises that teach essential design skills.

Workshop exercises require no background in programming or artwork, releasing you from the intricacies of electronic game production, so you can develop a working understanding of the essentials of game design.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Game design is something of a black art. The trick to doing it well is retaining the black magic but training oneself to control it. There are a lot of books on game design out there, but "Game Design Workshop" is among the very few that develops a wizard rather than a drone.
-Ian Bogost, professor of digital media, the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-founder, Persuasive Games

About the Author

Tracy Fullerton, M.F.A., is a game designer, educator and writer with fifteen years of professional experience. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Interactive Media Division of the USC School of Cinema-Television where she serves as Co-Director of the Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab. Recent credits include faculty advisor for the award-winning student game Cloud, and game designer for The Night Journey a unique game/art project with media artist Bill Viola. Prior to joining the USC faculty, she was president and founder of the interactive television game developer, Spiderdance, Inc. Spiderdance's games included NBC's Weakest Link, MTV's webRIOT, The WB's No Boundaries, History Channel's History IQ, Sony Game Show Network's Inquizition and TBS's Cyber Bond. Before starting Spiderdance, Tracy was a founding member of the New York design firm R/GA Interactive. As a producer and creative director she created games and interactive products for clients including Sony, Intel, Microsoft, AdAge, Ticketmaster, Compaq, and Warner Bros. among many others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: CRC Press; 2 edition (February 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240809742
• ISBN-13: 978-0240809748
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #135,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must-have for aspiring game designers March 25, 2010

By Aaron Hill

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The top rating is well-deserved -- this book is both thorough and well-written. Fullerton provides in-depth discussion and a progressive approach to introducing the material. It begins with the absolute basics, discussing the basics of where game ideas come from, and ends with a treatise on the inner-workings of the game publishing industry.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about game development, as a trade, and especially for anyone looking to do it as a profession.

There were so many things to love about this book, but three things really stand out in my mind as being particularly awesome:

1. The "Designer Perspective" sidebars (insight into how some famous game designers got started and some behind-the-scenes knowledge about the industry)
2. The focus on iterative-design (prototype and test early and often)
3. The Exercises (real application exercises that hold your hand through the development of games, and of yourself as a career designer)

There were basically only two things I *didn't* like about this book, and they are purely circumstantial.

The first thing is that this book is college-textbook dense. Seriously. The page-count is just shy of 450 pages, and each page is divided into two columns, with a relatively small font-size. It was a beast to get through. There were many times when finishing the book felt like a daunting task, particularly towards the end.

The second thing that I wished was different was that the book's focus changes almost completely to digital game development (video games).... The first half of the book was about basic game development, and so it could apply to either tabletop games or digital games; but as the book progresses, it makes a clear shift towards digital game development.

Realistically, this is not surprising -- the video game industry is gigantic, with revenues exceeding Box Office sales, and it keeps growing. The market for tabletop games is vastly smaller, domestically, and although it enjoys a much larger market share in Europe, particularly Germany, it is still comparatively diminuitive. So this particular nitpick is purely arbitrary, on my part -- I don't begrudge the authors for their decision regarding the content. Read more ›

19 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My Search Has Ended! February 27, 2008

By Scott A. Jacobson

Format:Paperback

This book is honestly an answer to my prayers! I'm using the first half of this superb book to remodel my introductory game design class & after school game design club. The included exercises are definitely geared toward capturing the attention of the type of kids I want to attract to my program. I think I'm going to have to buy a 2nd book as my son is using the last half of the book to develop and market his senior game project and plan for his Indie game company :)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars structure the creative chaos March 3, 2013

By new moon beader

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

as a new game developer, i find this workbook is well-organized, with effective exercises for many stages of game design.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent May 10, 2013

By Geogy

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an excellent book. It presents a very logical and understandable framework for designing a game. It helped make me a hero in the eyes of my manager.

5.0 out of 5 stars I like it! June 9, 2012

By fedoit

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The book is about playcentric approach to game development. It's very powerfull idea about playtesting the game during all the developer process since idea to release.
Also the author of this book is participate in creating the game Journey and that's enough to buy this book.
I'm reading my first book about game design, making mindmaps in MindNode Pro and fill how my skill is increasing! That's greate.
Also I like Kindle apps for iPad and iMac - very user-friendly.

P.S.: I'm indie game developer - fedoit.com

11 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful analysis of a complicated industry November 3, 2008

By J. Strach

Format:Paperback

This book is really phenomenol. I am a two decade veteran from the industry and only somewhat recently stumbled across Fullerton's work. In this book you will encounter a rich analysis of the industry that covers various insight from numerous perspectives. Her writing style is very engaging while also being analytical; providing observations about common topics expressed in ways I had not heard before - or at least put so eloquently. I'm a big fan of the book.

So why only 4 stars and not 5? I like to think that 5 stars for anything just requires excellence that is at a whole different level. A Pixar Animation Studios "5 stars" level - if you know what I'm saying. My one complaint about the book would be that embedded within the book are exercises forcing the reader - I should say strongly encouraging the reader - to partake in applying the knowledge; or more fairly sometimes learning about the industry through observation of real-world product. I think this is all very good to be honest. But the consequence of this is that often if the reader doesn't have time to devote to these exercises (or isn't home while reading), they might feel compelled to delay reading until they can execute said exercises. Or maybe it's just me? Since I read a lot of my books during my commute on the bus, I often find myself struggling to get through this book in its entirety. Probably most people would just blow off the exercises but then again I think you'd miss a lot of Fullerton's message if you did that.

So that's why only 4 of 5 stars. But really, it's my commute-on-the-bus' fault - not the book's. I strongly suggest anyone interested in learning more about the process of Game Design to check out this literary work.... There are some great "real-world" stories from other people in the industry so it provides a well rounded view and I have yet to find a book that covers so much interesting ground so effortlessly. Now, back to my exercises... Read more ›

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A doctorate in video game design? August 22, 2011

By Charles Frederick

Format:Paperback

There is a lot of information in this book. It is a fabulous text and reference, but it's quite a commitment by to get through. I feel like a video game genius now that I have digested the information in this text. I have to admit though, when I first saw how dense this book was I was a little intimidated - wondering if I had chosen the wrong career. Now that I finished it that I have a deeper understanding of video game design and am now concentrating on the visual aspects of game design. On my nightstand now is Create 3D Like a Superhero! and How'd You Do That?: Poser Character Creation For Beginners

The three chapters that I got the most benefit from were:
· Digital prototyping
· Playtesting
· Functionality, Completeness and Balance

I felt this book really prepared me for what my life will be like as a game designer - and what pitfalls I should look out for. I feel so far ahead of the pack now. A must buy for anyone considering a career in videogames.