Game Design Literature

[TheOneFreeMan]

I'm currently studying game design, specifically storytelling and narrative.

To make this short, does anyone have any suggestions of good books in that arena that they found a good read? I've already read a few myself and found more that look interesting, but I'm interested to hear your recommendations. Thanks.

 

[Ennui]

The Art of Computer Game Design by Chris Crawford is dated and he's heavy on the ego but is a solid introduction to game design principles. You can read it online here:
http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/peabody/game-book/Coverpage.html

I have that and a few other books about game design but none of them are that great (or that bad). Roger Pederson is another good author. The real thing is to read as much as you can about game design and development in general so you can have a full, complex understanding of how dev teams work to produce the games you play. A good place to start your literary adventures is GameDev.net, they have hundreds of game design articles, some of which are quite valuable (read the one about Valve's cabal system).

 

[Asknoone]

I've read Writing for Videogames by Steve Ince (Broken Sword), but certainly nothing extensive in the area. The aforementioned is okay; it is fairly technical and nondescript - very much just an overview of the industry and the role of the writer, rather than an exploration of writing for games.

 

[TheOneFreeMan]

Thanks both of you for the suggestions. I've been considering buying the Chris Crawford book for a while now.

To add my own input, Creating Emotion in Games: The Art and Craft of Emotioneering by David Freeman is a very good mind-opener on the topic of writing emotional and morally challenging situations into games, even if he doesn't ultimately provide many solutions to the logistical hurdles of implementing them.

 

[Barnz]

I've read Writing for Videogames by Steve Ince (Broken Sword), but certainly nothing extensive in the area. The aforementioned is okay; it is fairly technical and nondescript - very much just an overview of the industry and the role of the writer, rather than an exploration of writing for games.

Good choice. Broken Sword always been one of my favourite adventure games.