Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design: Rogers, Scott: 9781118877166: Amazon.com: Books

Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design 2nd Edition

by Scott Rogers (Author)

612 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-1118877166

ISBN-10: 1118877160

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Want to design your own video games? Let expert Scott Rogers show you how!

If you want to design and build cutting-edge video games but aren’t sure where to start, then the SECOND EDITION of the acclaimed Level Up! is for you! Written by leading video game expert Scott Rogers, who has designed the hits Pac Man World, Maximo and SpongeBob Squarepants, this updated edition provides clear and well-thought out examples that forgo theoretical gobbledygook with charmingly illustrated concepts and solutions based on years of professional experience.

Level Up! 2nd Edition has been NEWLY EXPANDED to teach you how to develop marketable ideas, learn what perils and pitfalls await during a game’s pre-production, production and post-production stages, and provide even more creative ideas to serve as fuel for your own projects including:

Developing your game design from the spark of inspiration all the way to production
Learning how to design the most exciting levels, the most precise controls, and the fiercest foes that will keep your players challenged
Creating games for mobile and console systems – including detailed rules for touch and motion controls
Monetizing your game from the design up
Writing effective and professional design documents with the help of brand new examples

Level Up! 2nd Edition is includes all-new content, an introduction by David “God of War” Jaffe and even a brand-new chili recipe –making it an even more indispensable guide for video game designers both “in the field” and the classroom.

Grab your copy of Level Up! 2nd Edition and let’s make a game!

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Rogers (Thousand Oaks, CA) is a Principal Imagineer at Walt Disney. After deciding that game designers have more fun, Scott embarked on a career creating game designs for a number of successful titles including Sony's GOD OF WAR, Capcom's MAXIMO: GHOSTS TO GLORY and its sequel MAXIMO VS. ARMY OF ZIN, Namco's PAC-MAN WORLD and THQ's DRAWN TO LIFE series. He lives in Thousand Oaks with his family and a large collection of video games.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley; 2nd edition (April 28, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 560 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1118877160
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1118877166
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.92 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.3 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #42,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Game Programming
- #3 in Computer & Video Game Design
- #75 in Software Development (Books)

Customer Reviews:
612 ratings

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Scott Rogers

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After discovering that game designers have more fun, Scott Rogers embarked on a 25+ year career in games. He has helped design many successful video games including: Pac-Man World, the Maximo series, God of War, Drawn to Life series, Darksiders and Warhammer 40K. A former Disney Imagineer, Scott has designed board games (Pantone the Game, Rayguns and Rocketships), authored books (Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design and Swipe This! The Guide to Touchscreen Game Design) and is featured in the documentary film Gamemasters (2020). He has taught game design at USC's prestigious school of interactive media and at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles where he is the host/producer of their popular Masters of Game Design speaker series. Scott lives just outside Los Angeles with his lovely wife, two children and many, many action figures, comic books, video and board games.

Customer reviews

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3 star		4%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 27, 2022

Verified Purchase

Really a great book. Explains everything in a simple way. totally recommend it.

Eric Hockemeyer

Informative and Adaptable

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 5, 2022

Verified Purchase

While the author obviously had a specific mind set when writing the book, I feel they really did open their minds in their second edition.

It makes the book entertaining and broadly informative.

Instead of focusing on specific niches in the game dev industry they focus on broad overarching lessons that anybody could use.

My teen loved it

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

My 15 yr old is your general unmotivated type, but from wee childhood he's wanted to be a game designer. I wanted to order a book that would give him some real info about game design that would still be engaging enough to hold his attention. Maybe the stars aligned or this book is amazing but he read the WHOLE THING from cover to cover! Which is really something considering it's over 500 pages. Thanks so much for writing this book! I wish there were more like it.

9 people found this helpful

Great book for any game dev.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

I was looking for resources to help me on my journey of making a GTA clone in Dreams ps4. I found this book really comprehensive on the many aspects of game design. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in making games.

One person found this helpful

Fun read to broaden your love of games.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 15, 2021

Verified Purchase

Is this book going to make me quit my job to start game design...nope...but it's a lot of fun to read. I have this in my truck and will take a moment to read a few pages when I get a moment while waiting to pick up my son from school.i enjoy it and will continue to enjoy it as I play with learning unity.

5 people found this helpful

Yonathan Yacobi

Great for beginners!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

this book is a light read and offers a good overview on the entirety of the game design process.

it helped me grasp the overwhelming task of creating a game, and by laying things on the table in a plain and orderly fashion made the endeavor seem a little less intimidating.

It is a very practicle book and offers some very useful "hands on" tips.
that being said it is built around designing a platformer and while it offers tips that are applicable for other genres, it is relatively thin on game design theory.

So. great book for starters - less so for more experienced game designers and enthusiasts wanting to hone and deepen their skill as game creators, and experience fabricators.

6 people found this helpful

Justin D Kendall

"New" book arrived with heavy crease down back cover and warping.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 16, 2022

Verified Purchase

Book is in otherwise new condition, but the back is creased and the book is warped. Not enough of a stickler myself about quality to return it, but if you're expecting something pristine for your shelf, this would be a no-go. I'll be keeping the book under some other heavy books to remove the warping.

Level Up your Game Design Skills

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

This book is very informative and a surprisingly fun read, a useful guide for professional or future game designers. It is over 500 pages covering a variety of topics of including: history, game genres, level design, story telling, controls, beat charts and pitches to name a few. There are several thorough lists breaking down all the types of: enemies, mechanisms, hazards, weapons, power ups, puzzles, themes, locations and more. Throughout the book he gives first-hand knowledge of his experiences and learnings, and references various examples of games to communicate the message. (Now I have a much longer list of games I want to play). With personal stories, humor and simple illustrations it remains fun to read to the last page.

8 people found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer

A good but slightly unpolished guide going over the basics of game design

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 14, 2021

Verified Purchase

I got this book looking to get better at game design. I have a background in programming and wanted to try my hand at solo game development.
I'm around half-way through it at this point, so keep that in mind.
Looking at it objectively, the book covers the game design workflow in detail, explaining basics as well as professional tools and practices. The frequent illustration makes for some added detail and charm, while simultaneously breaking up some lengthy explanations. The author clearly has lots of experience working on games with a team, and they'll often bring up first hand experience as an example. This makes the whole thing more credible. I've learned quite a bit in so far, and I'm certain I'll get to learn much more before I finish the book.

That said, I have to add that the book feels a little rushed and unpolished. There's the occasional reference to other parts of a game development team that feel a little second hand or hearsay. While not part of the expertise for the book's topic, still a little off-putting.
There are also a number of missing words or odd sentences here and there which really reduce the credibility of the author, especially since they reinforce the importance of attention to detail. It's nothing major, but it might be detrimental to some people's experience.

Overall, a great little book that provides plenty of knowledge and some first hand experience about designing games which, while maybe a little unpolished in places, is a good start for anyone looking to give game design a go.

2 people found this helpful

Seligc

Too many factual errors in the book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 13, 2019

Verified Purchase

Eg. Page 18, paragraph 4: “Using programming languages like C++ and unity...”. Unfortunately this just takes away all credibility for the reader.

Update- if you are a one person designer this book isn’t for you. It’s more for larger design houses that produce design docs etc.

9 people found this helpful

Peter Dwyer

Great book but, not an essential update if you already own the original.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 22, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is an excellent book about designing great games that will appeal to your intended audience, The writing is handled with humour and integrity and it is clear that the author both enjoys designing games and is more than willing to pass on his tried and tested techniques to those coming up through the design ranks.

If you already owned the first edition then there isn't a lot more in this one but, it does contain some useful updates and tips and remains an essential part of any game designers book shelf. This and a book of lenses are the two design books that Inever hesitate to recommend when asked what someone should read when looking at designing games.

5 people found this helpful

Raul

Good book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

If you start in level design degree, this is a great book to give you ideas and considerations for your games.

One person found this helpful

Sandy Kemp

Essential reading for anyone interested in developing video games!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 11, 2016

Verified Purchase

I was pleasantly suprised at how accessible and informative this book is. Scott Rogers explains every topic using clear, consice and rather humourous methods which means you're never left scratching your head over the included topics.

The topics covered within the book are indeed everything you need to know about desigining and developing games across any platform imaginable. Also this updated 2nd editon covers many of the newer fads and trends in modern games such as mobile apps and digital downloads.

This will remain an integral part of my library and close at hand whilst developing games in future.

3 people found this helpful

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