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The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses | 
 enlarge | Author: Jesse Schell
Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
Category: Book
List Price: $59.95
Buy New: $48.49
You Save: $11.46 (19%)
New (34) Used (4) from $48.49
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 39220
Media: Paperback
Pages: 512
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0123694965
Dewey Decimal Number: 006
EAN: 9780123694966
ASIN: 0123694965
Publication Date: August 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Product Description
Anyone can master the fundamentals of game design no technological expertise is necessary. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses shows that the same basic principles of psychology that work for board games, card games and athletic games also are the keys to making top-quality videogames. Good game design happens when you view your game from many different perspectives, or lenses. While touring through the unusual territory that is game design, this book gives the reader one hundred of these lenses one hundred sets of insightful questions to ask yourself that will help make your game better. These lenses are gathered from fields as diverse as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, writing, puzzle design, and anthropology. Anyone who reads this book will be inspired to become a better game designer and will understand how to do it.
* Jesse Schell is a highly recognizable name within the game industry - he is the former chair of the International Game Developer's Association, and has designed many successful games, including Disney's award-winning Toontown Online.
* The book's design methodology was developed at Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center, co-founded by Dr. Randy Pausch, of "Last Lecture" fame.
* 100 'lenses' are scattered throughout the book. These are boxed sets of questions, each a different way of seeing a game that will inspire the creative process.
* 600 pages of detailed, practical instruction on creating world-class games that will be played again and again.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
A Book of Paths October 4, 2008
Stephane Bura (Charleroi, Belgique)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've been designing games for more than 20 years and I've read a ton of books on the subject.
This one is unique.
Most game design books focus on teaching you how to make a good game, detailing what techniques and processes one must master to understand an audience, to design a product that will satisfy their needs and aspirations, and to work with a team to produce it. "The Art of Game Design" goes beyond that: It teaches you how to become a better designer.
Here's an excerpt from the Deck of Lenses' instructions (it's the deck of cards sold separately that illustrates the 100 design "lenses"):
How to Design a Game
Step 1: Think of an idea for a game (it's easy, it can be anything!)
Step 2: Try it out (no really - try it out - you have to play games to see if they work)
Step 3: Figure out what's wrong with it, and change it so it is better. Then go back to Step 2!
That's what game designers do, over and over again, until they're satisfied with the game or they run out of time or money. However, if there are lots of books out there that explain how to increase the quality of whichever aspect of the game you want to change, it's the first one that so directly and so thoroughly addresses the problem of "figuring out what's wrong" with a game at each iteration.
In the book, Jesse Schell presents one hundred ways of looking at your game in order to figure this out, one hundred lenses. Even if this number seems big, it really isn't, because the book covers every domain touched by design: from the nature of the playing experience itself, to understanding the player, the game mechanisms, interface, story, technology, theme, etc.
For instance, here's the sum-up of a lens taken at random:
Lens #82: The Lens of Inner Contradiction
A good game cannot contain properties that defeat the game's very purpose. To remove those contradictory qualities, ask yourself these questions:
- What is the purpose of my game?
- What is the purpose of each subsystem of my game?
- Is there anything at all in my game that contradicts these purposes?
- If so, how can I change that?
The book doesn't give answers but helps you ask the right questions. I think of this book as the Tao of Game Design, a path toward understanding, each step its own path that can be explored and perfected. The one hundred lenses are one hundred design domains in which a designer can become more proficient. Jesse Schell's knowledge, experience and talent are obvious when he clearly explains how to consider all these questions, why they are important and how they are linked together.
This book makes and helps me think. To me, that's the best things a book about design can do.
 A lesson in life August 27, 2008
Nyte Scarab
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
The Art of Game Design is simple in its language yet intriguing in its concepts. Jesse's well written book is equivalent to a four year undergrad degree in the same subject. The bulkiness of the book might seem overwhelming, but once you start reading, you delve right into it without you even knowing it.
The book draws inspiration from a myriad of topics and fields and definitely provides life lessons on a deeper level. The philosophy and its understanding helps in knowing yourself better, first as a person and then as a designer.
The Art of Game Design will inculcate a positive design perspective to the way you observe everyday things and events. Even if you are not a designer, it certainly is an excellent addition to collectibles that broaden your horizon. A must-buy for those aspiring to be a designer.
The 'Art' of Game Design August 26, 2008
Hyunsoo Kim
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Art of Game Design is a book which provides an easy read, it has a simplistic elegance to it, yet the depth of the book is quite deep which will keep you thinking for hours upon end. For me one of the most impressive things about the book is that it pretty much covers everything that a game designer should be aware of and how their decisions will effect the real world (it even talks about the moral obligations which I have never seen covered in a book about game design!). If you really want to learn the depth of being a game designer this book is a must read.
Great Stuff August 26, 2008
Mr. Dunkles
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's rare to find an instructional book on any topic that takes such a broad, holistic view of it's subject matter. Not only is it loaded with useful info on game design, but many of it's methods can easily be applied to the creative process in general. It's depth and breadth of thought set it easily above any other game design book I've come across.
a guide, a reference, a source of inspiration August 21, 2008
Steffen P. Walz (Zurich, Switzerland)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
good things come to those who wait - and i have been waiting for this book for years. jesse schell has managed to compose not only a game design guide through an idealized design process, but also a handy catalogue of "lenses" that will help designers to inquire whether their game is enjoyable, or not, and how to improve the design. most importantly, 'the art of game design' provides intellectual as well as practical inspiration throughout - what more can you ask from a book in this field?
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