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Zack Hiwiller

Players Making Decisions: Game Design Essentials and the Art of Understanding Your Players 1st Edition

by Zack Hiwiller (Author)

4.8 20 ratings

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Game designers today are expected to have an arsenal of multi-disciplinary skills at their disposal in the fields of art and design, computer programming, psychology, economics, composition, education, mythology―and the list goes on. How do you distill a vast universe down to a few salient points?

Players Making Decisions brings together the wide range of topics that are most often taught in modern game design courses and focuses on the core concepts that will be useful for students for years to come. A common theme to many of these concepts is the art and craft of creating games in which players are engaged by making meaningful decisions. It is the decision to move right or left, to pass versus shoot, or to develop one’s own strategy that makes the game enjoyable to the player. As a game designer, you are never entirely certain of who your audience will be, but you can enter their world and offer a state of focus and concentration on a task that is intrinsically rewarding.

This detailed and easy-to-follow guide to game design is for both digital and analog game designers alike and some of its features include:

A clear introduction to the discipline of game design, how game development teams work, and the game development process
Full details on prototyping and playtesting, from paper prototypes to intellectual property protection issues
A detailed discussion of cognitive biases and human decision making as it pertains to games
Thorough coverage of key game elements, with practical discussions of game mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics
Practical coverage of using simulation tools to decode the magic of game balance
A full section on the game design business, and how to create a sustainable lifestyle within it

ISBN-10

0134396758
ISBN-13

978-0134396750
Edition

1st
Publisher

New Riders
Publication date

December 7, 2015
Language

English
Dimensions

7.3 x 1.2 x 9 inches
Print length

480 pages
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Zack Hiwiller is a game designer, educator, and writer living in Orlando, Florida. He is a department chair for the Game Design degree program at Full Sail University and does consultant work for many large and small companies. Previously, in addition to independent projects, he was a designer at Gameloft and Electronic Arts. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master’s degree in Modeling and Simulation from the University of Central Florida. His writings at hiwiller.com have been reposted by Kotaku, GameSetWatch, and others and have reached over two million readers.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Riders; 1st edition (December 7, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0134396758
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0134396750
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.75 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.3 x 1.2 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,708,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #331 in Computer Graphics
- #377 in Computer & Video Game Design
- #1,073 in Game Programming

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4.8 20 ratings

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Zack Hiwiller

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Zack Hiwiller is a game designer, educator, and writer living in Orlando, Florida. He is a department chair for the Game Design degree program at Full Sail University and does consulting work for many large and small companies. Previously, in addition to independent projects, he was a game designer at Gameloft and Electronic Arts. He holds a bachelor's degree in Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University and a master's degree in Modeling and Simulation from the University of Central Florida. His writings at hiwiller.com and elsewhere have been reposted by Kotaku, GameSetWatch, and others and have reached over two million readers.

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4.8 out of 5

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Wolf Steele Embers

I wish this book existed when I was in school.

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2016

Verified Purchase

First, I would like to thank the author. This is a very well written book. It is informative and I enjoyed reading it. I knew I would be writing a positive review for it very early on. I just finished reading tonight. I haven't written a book review before, but I feel this merited one.

I completed my degree in this field in 2014. I wish this book existed then and was required reading for one of my design classes. Yes, there is a lot of ground covered, and for a topic like this, that is necessary. Zack covers that ground skillfully.
Game design, psychology, game theory, best practices, even spreadsheets (and more) are topics that are covered to use to make our designs better for our players.
This is highly recommended reading for anyone in school for a game career, looking to get into games, or even those just with an interest in games. For those already in our field, I recommend it as well. I picked up new perspectives and new tricks to utilize in my future designs.
Since making a game requires many people from many disciplines anyone involved in the game industry can benefit from reading this book.

Thanks again Zack Hiwiller, if I had a physical copy of your book, Players Making Decisions: Game Design Essentials and the Art of Understanding Your Players would be right next to Jesse Schell's book The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, which I did read in school.

Sincerely,
Mark

4 people found this helpful

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Mike Arlington

if I didn't actually like the book I would have just pretended I never ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2016

Verified Purchase

Full disclosure: I am friends with the author. That being said, if I didn't actually like the book I would have just pretended I never read the thing, so the following is still an honest perspective.

Zack does a great job of teaching the reader instead of telling the reader through use of many specific and clear examples. It's also apparent that there was a lot of research done in writing this book, from behavioral studies to other game design professionals' work. Finally, he has that dry, witty, sarcastic humor that I personally enjoy; the book never reads like a dull list of facts.

The book covers a lot of ground. (In fact, if I had a criticism, it would probably be that it tried to cover too much.) In particular though, I found the sections on behaviorism and game theory not only interesting but one of the most clear explanations I've read on the subject. Additionally, the sections on documentation and presentation should be mandatory reading for anyone who wants to work on a team, not just in games but really any medium+ sized project.

Because of the wide gamut of subjects covered in the book, I believe it is an excellent resource for those interested in getting started in game design. However, even for those with background in game design there is certainly insight to be gleaned from Zack's experience and research.

5 people found this helpful

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Dorothy Page

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2018

Verified Purchase

Bought for a Game Design class. Gives a lot of insight into players and their psychology.

One person found this helpful

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Daniel Duenas Jr

It's a book it's not going to find the cure for cancer

Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

I use it as note and to look over anything when I need a re-fresher.

2 people found this helpful

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Beck

Like

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

Great book and seller

2 people found this helpful

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Tom Pierson

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book is cited frequently in my classes.

One person found this helpful

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George

I enjoyed reading book

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2017

A very structured, well written approach to game design. I enjoyed reading book.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

AmazonLifer

Insightful book about video game design

Reviewed in Canada on July 6, 2021

Verified Purchase

It is wonderful that more and more books are coming out about the principles of video game design. It is an important topic for our times, as games continue to play an important role in society. Hiweller's text is a great overview of the topic in video game design, including technical topics like decisions trees and game theory. Highly recommended.

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