Designing Games by Tynan Sylvester

Designing Games

A Guide to Engineering Experiences

Tynan Sylvester

O'Reilly Media · Print & ebook · March 26, 2013

Ready to give your design skills a real boost?

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Who it’s for
Explore how mechanics, fiction, and pacing work together to create emotionally charged play.
Themes
Game design principles, Mechanics and narrative, Iterative development
Genres
Game Design, Game Dev, Systems Design

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About this book

Ready to give your design skills a real boost? This eye-opening book helps you explore the design structure behind most of todayâ??s hit video games. Youâ??ll learn principles and practices for crafting games that generate emotionally charged experiencesâ??a combination of elegant game mechanics, compelling fiction, and pace that fully immerses players.

Continue reading

In clear and approachable prose, design pro Tynan Sylvester also looks at the day-to-day process necessary to keep your project on track, including how to work with a team, and how to avoid creative dead ends. Packed with examples, this book will change your perception of game design. - Create game mechanics to trigger a range of emotions and provide a variety of play - Explore several options for combining narrative with interactivity - Build interactions that let multiplayer gamers get into each otherâ??s heads - Motivate players through rewards that align with the rest of the game - Establish a metaphor vocabulary to help players learn which design aspects are game mechanics - Plan, test, and analyze your design through iteration rather than deciding everything up front - Learn how your gameâ??s market positioning will affect your design

Designing for Feeling

Explore how mechanics, fiction, and pacing work together to create emotionally charged play.

Come here for

  • A clear-eyed look at the craft behind immersive game experiences
  • Ideas for joining narrative and interactivity without losing either

Expect

  • Practical attention to teamwork, iteration, and avoiding creative dead ends
  • Examples spanning player motivation, multiplayer, and market positioning

Where it sits

Game Design76%
Game Dev38%
Systems Design22%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Game Dev
  • Interactive Media
  • Video & Animation
  • Human-Computer Interaction
Authors
Tynan Sylvester
Publisher
O'Reilly Media
Published
March 26, 2013
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Game design principles · Mechanics and narrative · Iterative development
Reading lane
Game Dev