Why we wrote "The Game Designer’s Playbook"
We wrote this book to provide an application-focused analysis of game interaction design, suitable as both an introductory volume for newcomers to game design or a systematic reference on interaction design for experienced professionals.
Our vision is to address a fundamental gap that exists in game design literature. General design writings rarely include a substantial focus on games; thus they are often not directly applicable or practical for game designers. On the other hand, the vast majority of existing game design books focus on the definition of formal elements (e.g., resources, objectives, conflict). To bridge these two extremes, our work centres on games while framing them in the context of general interaction design principles, giving readers a broader understanding of how and why different design choices matter. In this union of game-specific interaction design and general principles, we hope that the book will be accessible for readers both in the gaming domain and other design-related fields.
Another distinctive feature of our book is that it includes a wide spectrum of real-world examples and criticism. Many game design books only present the successful side of published games, or focus primarily on hypothetical examples. We feel that it is important for readers to understand examples of both good and bad design, supported further by examples illustrating how the design of one element can change within one or between multiple games, for better or worse. With these diverse examples, we hope to help readers to understand their own experiences with digital games, developing a better sense of what makes a design effective or ineffective.
Our goal is to create an applicable and useful book. So, we used a variety of techniques to support different learning styles, including real-world examples supplemented with visual matter, interviews with experts, and creativity-provoking exercises for interested readers.
We aimed to achieve our goal by providing an essential introduction to interaction design and user experience (UX) and then moving on to present an in-depth analysis of different components of interaction design by exploring insightful design examples across areas of game design including tutorialization, controls, and feedback. We complemented these by investigating new frontiers in game interaction design, covering topics such as interaction design for virtual reality (VR) titles; the changing role of artificial intelligence (AI) as a part of both player experience and a designer’s toolkit; and new forms of interaction arising from the popularization of streaming and eSports. We also include insights into the process and organizational aspects of successful game interaction design, providing a starting point for readers’ real-world applications.
Now that the book is in production, we are focusing our attention on creating additional digital content which we will gradually share through this newsletter. Examples of digital content would include interactive screenshot galleries supplementing the visuals contained in the book, and animations or video excerpts showing design principles in action, additional design exercises, lecture slides, and case studies. Be sure to follow us and recommend our book to your colleagues! It’s now available for pre-order.
