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

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.

As a game producer, this is my resource for game design.- Gives foundations for building upon great ideas.- Great illustrations to get the point across.- Entertaining read in general!

Book is great and delivers what it promises. Only thing the cover and came in damaged. Figured it was from storage and packing, but it’s a good book nonetheless.

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.

This text has been a staple of our classroom studies for years. It's a great primer for aspiring game developers.

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.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in game design. The author takes his time to really get you to understand the ins and outs of the process. Definitely a five-star rating!!! Highly recommended!

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.