Take a photo of a barcode or cover
gab_free_ 's review for:
The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
by Jesse Schell
A great primer on almost every aspect of game design, from defining what a game is to tips on the business surrounding them.
I felt there were several chapters, I think in the 3rd quarter of the book, that felt like Schell didn't have a ton to say on the subjects but still felt the need to write something on them. I think it would have been fine to skip them, frankly.
However, this book is clearly meant to be referenced again and again (and probably not read cover to cover the way I did), pointing outward to multiple other resources at the ends of every chapter so if you need additional perspectives you can find almost always find more from there.
As basically textbook on game design, I absolutely loved the mind map of related concepts that starts every chapter, expanding each time. It was a wonderful way of helping connect the ideas of the book, and to show how far you've come by the end of it. I'd love to see more textbooks/textbook-adjacent books use that tool!
The writing is funny and witty, but also sometimes a little ham-fisted. Maybe that's appropriate for a primer like this. I really appreciate what Schell has put together here, and I expect I will be coming back to its various lenses as I play around with my hobby-game.
I felt there were several chapters, I think in the 3rd quarter of the book, that felt like Schell didn't have a ton to say on the subjects but still felt the need to write something on them. I think it would have been fine to skip them, frankly.
However, this book is clearly meant to be referenced again and again (and probably not read cover to cover the way I did), pointing outward to multiple other resources at the ends of every chapter so if you need additional perspectives you can find almost always find more from there.
As basically textbook on game design, I absolutely loved the mind map of related concepts that starts every chapter, expanding each time. It was a wonderful way of helping connect the ideas of the book, and to show how far you've come by the end of it. I'd love to see more textbooks/textbook-adjacent books use that tool!
The writing is funny and witty, but also sometimes a little ham-fisted. Maybe that's appropriate for a primer like this. I really appreciate what Schell has put together here, and I expect I will be coming back to its various lenses as I play around with my hobby-game.