IGDA Exclusive:
Save 20% off these new and upcoming game titles from Focal Press & Morgan Kaufmann

(Click on any of the titles below for more information)

Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games

 Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games 
Tracy Fullerton

Paperback. 496 pages         
List Price: $ 44.95 
$35.96    

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.    

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Better Game Characters by Design

 Better Game Characters by Design: A Psychological Approach
Katherine Isbister
Paperback, 368 pages         
List Price: $ 51.95 $41.56
 

Better Game Characters by Design gives game design professionals and other interactive media designers a framework for understanding how social roles and perceptions affect players' reactions to characters, helping produce stronger designs and better results. Includes extensive illustrations, game examples, interviews with game designers, and clips from popular games on the DVD to illustrate concepts and best practices.                                                                    

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The Art of Game Design

 

 The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
Jesse Schell
Hardcover, 512 pages         
List Price: $ 59.95 $47.96
   

Jesse Schell takes an unusual approach to game design: the five kinds of listening (team, client, audience, game, and self) are shown to be backbone of all successful game design methods. Game designers will learn to understand the psychology of gameplay and entertainment, use techniques from traditional disciplines in the game design, and processes for inventing new experiences that will fully engage the player.

Coming in August 2008
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Game Usability: Advancing the Player Experience

 Game Usability: Advancing the Player Experience
Katherine Isbister and Noah Schaffer
Paperback, 374 pages          
List Price: $ 44.95 $35.96
   

With the growth of interest in casual games, game companies are realizing that usability matters. This book gives game designers a better understanding of how player characteristics impact usability strategy, and offers specific methods and measures to employ in game usability practice. The book also includes practical advice on how to include usability in already tight development timelines, and how to advocate for usability and communicate results to higher-ups effectively.          

Coming in August 2008
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Game Feel

 Game Feel: A Game Designers Guide to Virtual Sensation
Steve Swink
Paperback, 352 pages          
List Price: $ 44.95 $35.96
  

Game Feel exposes "feel" as a hidden language in game design that no one has fully articulated yet. A game's feel is central to a game's success. This book brings the subject of feel to light by consolidating existing theories into a cohesive book. Topics covered include the role of sound, ancillary indicators, the importance of metaphor, how people perceive things, and a brief history of feel in games.                        

Coming in October 2008
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