Andrew Rollings

Excellent overview of things you need to keep in mind while designing video games. Goes into detail without getting overly bogged down in technical specifics, which is no small feat.

Chapters 7 (on the types of challenges that go into a game) and 8 (on game balancing) are must-reads for any designer. They can go a long way towards developing a vocabulary of game design that goes beyond "fun/not-fun."

The second half of the book is a series of discussions on various game genres: action, strategy, RPG, etc. Each of these genres is deserving of a book of its own, and one chapter can't really do them any real justice. Disappointing, but the first half of the book is well worth the price of admission.… (more)