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The 'Secret (and Overt) Books' of Game Design
Posted by Maggie Greene at 5:30 AM on August 11, 2008
Malcolm Ryan is putting together a most interesting list of game design-related books — except these are the ones that are flying under the radar as it were. Ryan describes these 'secret books' as "books that are not explicitly written about games, but which any game designer who reads them just knows that they are really about games." As part of this, Ryan will be reviewing a book a week on a variety of narrative and game-related topics (even if the connection isn't immediately apparent). In the 'secret book' category, he's got two examples: Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud and A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction by Christopher Alexander.
There's not much yet, but if Ryan can stick to the book-a-week premise, I think there will be a nice and very accessible collection of reviews and thoughts on a wide variety of books. It's one of those things I've added to my feeds and just hope it doesn't peter out.
The Secret Books of Game Design [Words on Play via Grand Text Auto]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
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Ishmae1
Posted 6:06 AM 11/8/08
Ahem. "The Timeless Way (of Building)", which is by the same author of "A pattern language".
Ishmae1
Ishmae1
Posted 5:59 AM 11/8/08
I didn't realize these were ever secret. Many designers at Westwood and EALA had access to and were recommended Understanding Comics, The Design of Everyday Things, The Natural Way, and The User Illusion.
Typically designers were also sent to the Story seminar by Robert McKee. Although not directly applicable, the ideas on structure is what has value in game creation.
A Pattern Language however is one to check out!
Understanding Comics is still great... although the sequel wasn't as good, IMO.
Ishmae1
Katorok
Posted 5:54 AM 11/8/08
Books...
!
Katorok
TheCakeisaHalfTruth
Posted 5:44 AM 11/8/08
Understanding Comics is one of the greatest books I've read in the realm of creative study and structured narrative in a popular format. Scott McCloud is a hero of mine for it.
TheCakeisaHalfTruth
Ad-hominem
Posted 6:15 AM 11/8/08
@TheCakeisaHalfTruth: Yeah, but you have to remember that that book, and Scout McCloud managed to piss off all the real web cartoonists, even the successful one.
So, while it's great in theory, his book and fifteen bucks will mean you broke even for the book.
Ad-hominem
Danin
Posted 6:14 AM 11/8/08
@Katorok: fuck yeah?
Danin
okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)
Posted 6:41 AM 11/8/08
@Maggie:
I assure you that most of the comments above this are made by potentially rational and intelligent individuals so don't get discouraged. I found that gamers feel the need to act out and Kotaku stories are a fly-paper covered stage :)
okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)
diagonalBeat
Posted 7:17 AM 11/8/08
Interesting, i just recently happened to pick up and read Making Comics by Scott McCould and I found it to be much deeper than i was expecting, though I can't really relate that book to game design. (I don't know about Understanding Comics though)
diagonalBeat
Tzepish
Posted 7:04 AM 11/8/08
When I started as a designer, my boss recommended The Design of Everyday Things, and now I recommend it to EVERYONE. I'll have to check out these other books, though. Thanks Maggie!
Tzepish
snackalacka
Posted 7:26 AM 11/8/08
"A Pattern Language" was supposedly the kernel of inspiration that prompted Will Wright to create Sim City.
snackalacka
King Seafoam
Posted 10:08 AM 11/8/08
I'll be on the lookout for these. Meanwhile I should get my hands on "Understanding Comics" that they mentioned. Sounds interesting.
King Seafoam
thecactusman17
Posted 5:39 PM 11/8/08
Scott WAS right in his second book regarding webcomics, the problem was that he and others didn't realize that what they were talking about (microtransactions) would be taken care of on an advertisement basis instead of a user-to-artist basis. The artwork in itself more or less pays for itself in ad revenue, but to make a living you need to expand beyond that--much like any other professional pen-and-ink cartoonist.
thecactusman17
harshalizee
Posted 2:02 AM 12/8/08
You want a book on game design,then you have to read FLOW by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
harshalizee
Draconis
Posted 6:41 AM 12/8/08
"The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell is also a good one to read about story design. It looks at archtypes of literary heroes from religious sources and forms a sort of guideline for creating these heroes.
Draconis