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Designing Games: A Guide to Engineering Experiences 1st Edition

by Tynan Sylvester (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 235 ratings
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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.

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

Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    1449337937
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1449337933
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    O'Reilly Media
  5. Publication date
    March 26, 2013
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6 x 0.88 x 9 inches
  8. Print length
    413 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tynan Sylvester first designed games in 2000. His smallest projects were one-man independent games on which he wrote every line of code and painted every frame of art. His largest was four years at Irrational Games working on BioShock Infinite.

Tynan's game design blog is at tynansylvester.com. He likes talking to people, so go ahead and post a comment or email him at tynan.sylvester@gmail.com.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media; 1st edition (March 26, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 413 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1449337937
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1449337933
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.23 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.88 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 235 ratings

About the author

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Tynan Sylvester

Tynan Sylvester

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Tynan Sylvester is the founder of Ludeon Studios and the creator of RimWorld. With over three million copies sold and 98% positive reviews on Steam, RimWorld is one of the most successful indie games of all time. He first designed games in 2000. His personal website is at tynansylvester.com.

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
235 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Petar S. Petrov
5.0 out of 5 stars Gold
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2024
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Even if you never design a game you will learn so much from this book. I am surprised it is not more popular.
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Joseph J. Cassavaugh
5.0 out of 5 stars Game Design for people in the trenches.
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2013
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I only have one complaint about this book...it ended. I wanted the author, Tynan Sylvester to go on for at least another 200 pages. Hopefully, one day, he'll write one just talking about all the true and weird stuff that goes on in the games industry.

This book is heads and tails above any "classic" game design book or manual. It's the opposite of some of those ivory tower tomes written by those that don't "do" but "teach". It's not a step-by-step manual about how to do good game design. It begins assuming you already have read the many books on those subjects. This is a book about game design in the real world. Instead of a chapter on brainstorming techniques like some books on game design would have you slog through, "Designing Games" says this about brainstorming: (in a chapter called "Knowledge Creation") - After defining brainstorming as a semi-formal process designed to quickly produce a large number of ideas, he says - "Brainstorming is good for generating ideas in volume. It is very bad for refining ideas, and the ideas it produces vary widely in quality."

Exactly 6 sentences are devoted to brainstorming. You may not agree and think that brainstorming requires much more discussion, but I loved that choice.

The highest compliment that I can give to this book is that it coherently explains exactly why I don't want to work in an organization that creates games and prefer to create/design games on my own. It is exceptionally difficult to Create/Design games within any organization, but Tynan breaks it down every step of the way and gives many, many pointers of how to navigate the potential minefield of getting a "good" game done in a corporate environment. He makes the point more than once that the smaller teams are more likely to make great games. (and that's why I'm still a team of one, even though I wouldn't call my Clutter games "great" by any measure).

Basically, it felt like I was talking to an old colleague, who has been in the trenches with me at the various game companies I've worked for. The only difference is that Tynan has way bigger and better experiences than I have.

He even covers topics like Motivation, and how it can be affected by success.

The last third of the book is the best as it delves more into the "process" of creating a game as opposed to the "craft" part. He talks about what a developer has to do day in and day out to get a game done. He starts by telling us what "busy idiocy" is (basically solving the wrong problems that aren't the real problems and the fake satisfaction of completing unimportant tasks (my words)) and then he sums it up nicely:

"In the short term, busy idiocy feels like raging genius."

And that's the best compliment I can leave Tynan with. He's a true genius in a sea of raging ones. He can spot "poop and scoop" (buy the book/look it up) a mile away.

"Designing Games" is wisdom you won't find anywhere else...and if you've been in the trenches of even a small game development team trying to get out "good" product, this book is for you. It's your story and it will make you think about how you make your many choices in both Game Design, and just Game Creation a bit differently.

Thanks Tynan, I want that sequel.
17 people found this helpful
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JanPaul Bergeson
5.0 out of 5 stars The Bible of Game Design
Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2018
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This book is amazing. I already want to re-read it. It doesn’t only talk about surface level “how” of game design or crafting, but also the “why” as the philosophy and psychology behind games. I feel like it’s going to be my game design bible for years to come.

This book puts into words and solidifies a lot of concepts I’ve been sorta noticing but couldn’t quite put my finger on. For example, the discussion about how people play games not only because they’re “fun,” but because they trigger all sorts of emotions. I wouldn’t describe the all-too-realistic fear of sharks and drowning that Subnautica triggers in me as fun, yet I keep wanting to play it.

There’s also a great discussion about elegance of design, which makes me feel like game reviews saying something like “easy to learn, hard to master” are the best praise a dev can get.

Finally, the discussions of flow, skill floors/ceilings, and philosophy of balance are the epitome of things I’ve felt with my intuition but haven’t understood really cerebrally. So anyways, great book, if you’re considering buying it, I highly recommend going for it. Well worth full price.
7 people found this helpful
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Jon
4.0 out of 5 stars Video games? Buy now! Board and card games? Add to wish list!
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2014
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If you make video games, this book is an absolute must read. If, like me, board and card games is more your craft, this book is still a very good and useful read.

The concepts the book covers apply to game design of all forms and supplement the existing literature very well. You will, however, have to accept that some of it only applies to people working in large teams and some of it only applies to video game hardware constraints. All examples given are video games, first person shooters and real time strategies mostly. That said, if you're willing to dig for it, there is a valuable lesson to be learned in every chapter for game designers of all kinds.
6 people found this helpful
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Eric Daily
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best (my favorite) Book on Game Design and Development
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2014
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Tynan Sylvester is a massively under-appreciated contributor to the art and science of game development and design. Within the first day of reading this book, my buddy and I had major breakthroughs with our game that had been trapped by bad design. We kept looking for what experience we were going for, what story we should tell, or what mechanic we needed to add, without fully appreciating how those are all connected. The first half of this book has completely and permanently changed how I approach game design--for the better. The second half taught me about how to actually manage and design the production of your game. All throughout, his clear and concise writing draws connections between the game-related topics and life in general, making for a remarkably interesting and meaningful read. Maybe I just found this book at the right time, but I can honestly say that this book has been life-changing for me. I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in improving their ability to make great games. Hopefully future editions will elaborate on how his conclusions have guided the design and production of his game, Rimworld.
15 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for game designers
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2019
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While directed at game designers I feel like this is an extremely worthwhile read for anyone managing creative projects. Everything is so well laid out. I got a ton of value from this, and I hope to read more from this author in the future. I liked it so much I purchased every book recommended in the further reading section
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Berke Erem
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely satisfying
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2020
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I absolutely loved this book. I kinda highlighted half of it. Every paragraph is meaningful and pratical if you are a game designer.

It's easy to read and to the point.
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coolcat
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, rivals many of the other business books I've read.
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2020
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Very good read and very thorough. Tynan goes into detail about the psychology of designing games and many other interesting related to games/ business.
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Marco Antonio Pangoni Balbino Santos
5.0 out of 5 stars The best book for begginers (like me) and probably for professionals
Reviewed in Brazil on October 10, 2022
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Simply amazing this book is delightfull to read. It explains why things make games good in a wonderfull way that you understand and are able to generalize, not just understand why worked in a specific situation but rather are able to detect everytime the concept is used.
When I played god of war 2018 I always thinked "Why is this combat system so amazing?" "Why does it feels so good to play?". Well now I know the answer
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Tawan Sierek
5.0 out of 5 stars Potential Go To Resource for Game Design
Reviewed in Canada on July 6, 2021
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I have a software development background in enterprise applications and I just started to look into developing games. This book couldn't have fallen into my lap at a better time. Its clear language makes it easy to grasp the complexity that goes into designing games which can be daunting especially at the beginning. While I didn't know where to start before reading this book, now I can see a clear path. I will definitively re-read the book a long the way.

Bonus: The book shares many ideas around software development processes and managing of teams which are, in my opinion, applicable outside of game development as well.

Highly recommend it!
One person found this helpful
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Guido Schmidt
5.0 out of 5 stars A big volume packed with numerous insights, experiences and key learnings that I all can confirm
Reviewed in Germany on December 23, 2022
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The book shows quite comprehensibly how difficult the development of a game is. It is probably too specific for people not working in the industry, but for anyone trying to be a game developer – I would highly recommend reading it.

Some key learnings for me, a game designer having worked in the industry for 20+ years (and that shows that you never run out of crucial learnings about this craft):

We’re designing for emotions, all of them, not only the feeling of overcoming challenges. This always felt like a gap in my understanding that now has been closed.

To put creating flow as a pacing of decisions was a very nice way of formulating my intuitive understanding of this fact. Often, when you read a book, it can confirm what you, in the back of your mind, already know. But it helps you put a name on things. And that was very much the case in that regard.

Using the technique of crating a dependency stack is very helpful in order to decide on what to work next. Because that is the one thing so many teams get wrong. They are solving the wrong problems and are spending their attention and manpower on things that don’t bring real progress. And this, in turn, can create a lot of frustration in the team if you don’t get it right.

These key learnings alone would already make reading the whole book a win, but there’s even more.

The book explains how games function in a very comprehensible manner – showing the key differences between movies and other forms of entertainment. It touches on the reason why the games industry is using techniques from other industries and how that can cause problems.

Explaining intentions to designers is very hard, because you never quite hit the right level of granularity. Often you explain stuff too vague, too high level. Or you are too low level, being too specific – almost doing the design work *for* your designers. This book provides an excellent example of getting the granularity of explaining intent on the right level, neither too high nor too low.

It also dives a bit into how you should structure & run your teams. Explains the history a bit of where the current mindset is coming from and how that impacts the development process today – and what we should do instead.

All in all, a big volume packed with numerous insights, experiences and key learnings that I all can confirm. There’s not a single thing in that book that I would say is outright wrong. And I wished that we would use books like this to, finally, establish some sort of standardized vocabulary and methodology of making games. From all the book I’ve read about that topic, this one is the one closest to reality I would say.
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Lugixxo
5.0 out of 5 stars Oltre il game design.
Reviewed in Italy on September 29, 2022
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Un libro straordinariamente bello, consigliato non solo a chi vuole approcciarsi al mondo del game design, ma a tutti coloro che volessero avere una visione più ampia di sé stessi e del mondo.
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Christopher Attwood
5.0 out of 5 stars Re-read it straight away
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 29, 2018
Verified Purchase
This book gives you an insight into games, what makes them good or not so good. This can be useful for someone wanting the design and make games, but it could also be fascinating to anyone. Very easy to read and requires no-prior knowledge on the subjects covered. The author's is the creator of the game 'Rimworld' and you can see the ideas put into practice in this superb game, which reinforces the lesson presented in the book are more than just theory.
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