Challenges for Game Designers

Welcome to a book written to challenge you, improve your brainstorming abilities, and sharpen your game design skills! Challenges for Game Designers: Non-Digital Exercises for Video Game Designers is filled with enjoyable, interesting, and challenging exercises to help you become a better video game designer, whether you are a professional or aspire to be. Each chapter covers a different topic important to game designers, and was taken from actual industry experience. After a brief overview of the topic, there are five challenges that each take less than two hours and allow you to apply the material, explore the topic, and expand your knowledge in that area. Each chapter also includes 10 ?non-digital shorts? to further hone your skills. None of the challenges in the book require any programming or a computer, but many of the topics feature challenges that can be made into fully functioning games. The book is useful for professional designers, aspiring designers, and instructors who teach game design courses, and the challenges are great for both practice and homework assignments. The book can be worked through chapter by chapter, or you can skip around and do only the challenges that interest you. As with anything else, making great games takes practice and Challenges for Game Designers provides you with a collection of fun, thoughtprovoking, and of course, challenging activities that will help you hone vital skills and become the best game designer you can be.

User review
Excellent for any wishing to design games.
I was reading Brenda's recommended reading for people who want to design games, and she mentioned some great books for students interested in game design or classes. I decided to read two books she recommended, but in the end I picked up this book instead of those two simply because it really sounded like it had tactile practices I could actually use. This reeeeeeally helped me with my prototyping class which is unrelated to where they teach and use this book.

As mentioned those wishing to work in teams within the industry - this book REALLY makes sense for those helping teams with `outside the box` thinking. I am still reading it alone though, and find no problems gaining helpful knowledge from the ideas set forth and doing the challenges alone (for us small town folk :P).

It has really been a lot of fun approaching this solo and it's hard to come up with balancing out ideas presented in the book. I think anyone could read it and skim through the game ideas thinking about what might work, but really making the suggested prototypes at least on paper would help readers get the most from this book. I would have paid more for such an excellent, helpful book.

The challenges within the book are definitely present because it's almost 100% likely that you have not tried to come up with prototypes or games for every type of idea mentioned.

If you are going at this alone I encourage you as a fellow reader to try out the strategies and see what you come up with. The team creating this book did an excellent job, the book does exactly what it says and more. If you're brand new to games the first 35 pages or so will get you up to speed on what to start thinking about,,,, if you have been in game design a while you might skip ahead to the good stuff (i.e. the excellent challenges set forth, but those first pages give the point of view of the book and set up the rest well).

User review
Serious source of theory and inspiration

I can descript this book as a compressive, accurate and easy to read text (Importat because my english level is not so high) . I like how it is structured, step by step.

The half of it is about challenges, which is great! I often refer to it to find inspiration.

All the challenges have examples and a suggested process to handle it.
I only wish it had more illustrations.

Although it is intended for video game designers, it is a must have for game board game designers.


User review
I `Thought` I was a Game Designer ,,.
I really thought I knew something about designing games. Then I read Challenges for Game Designers.
Boy, did it open my eyes! First, Challenges for Game Designers cover the foundations by giving a useful definition of game design and explaining terms like `core dynamic`, `prototype`, `balance` and `playtesting`.

Next, Challenges for Game Designers takes you through the game design process, first by examining what it refers to as Game Design Atoms, then dissecting elements of chance and skill. Finally, the book allows you to branch off into areas that interest you, whether it be marketing your game, creating games on social networks or creating games that tell a story.

At the end of each chapter, Challenges for Game Designers has five design challenges of increasing complexity and a section called Non-Digital Shorts, which are topics that foster brainstorming non-digital games.

Here is the best part. The authors created a fantastic course online (it was free during Summer 2009). The book was a requirement, so if you buy this book, you can get the most from it by reading it along with the course [,,.].

User review
Learn what make games tick, independently of the form
If you're serious into making games, you really need to learn how gamers get into games, why they do it, and how they do it.

This books takes a different approach from every other design or programming book about games you've ever read. How to implement player actions that make sense, how to balance the element of chance, how they can be used as a teaching tool.

The best part is that there is no need to know computer programming, or to even touch a computer. The book has a lot of exercises for you to make that only need paper, pencil and scissors. The author asserts that board games have a lot in common with videogames, and are faster to make and test with your friends.

So once again, if you want to learn game design, this is a definitive resource you should read and consult.

User review
Invaluable reference for both the novice and more experienced game designers
This is a great book that clearly explains some of the key issues that any designer of both digital and non-digital games should be aware of. It provides references to further expand you knowledge of area discussed

There are loads of basic and more challenging exercises that help you to put what you have learned into practice and also start you on the way to having great examples of your design work for you portfolio.