Practical game design : a modern and comprehensive guide to video game design / Adam Kramarzewski and Ennio De Nucci.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kramarzewski, Adam, author.

Nucci, Ennio De, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Video games--Development.

Video games.

Video games--Programming.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (446 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

2nd Revised edition.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), 2025.

Place of Publication:

Birmingham : Packt Publishing, 2023.

System Details:

text file HTML

Summary:

If you're in search of a cutting-edge actionable guide to game design, your quest ends here! Immerse yourself in the fundamentals of game design with expert guidance from veterans with decades of game design experience across a variety of genres and platforms. The second edition of this book remains dedicated to its original goal of helping you master the fundamentals of game design in a practical manner with the addition of some of the latest trends in game design and a whole lot of fresh, real-world examples from games of the current generation. This update brings a new chapter on games as a service, explaining the evolving role of the game designer and diving deeper into the design of games that are meant to be played forever. From conceptualizing a game idea, you'll gradually move on to devising a design plan and adapting solutions from existing games, exploring the craft of producing original game mechanics, and eliminating anticipated design risks through testing. You'll then be introduced to level design, interactive storytelling, user experience and accessibility. By the end of this game design book, you'll have learned how to wrap up a game ahead of its release date, work through the challenges of designing free-to-play games and games as a service, and significantly improve their quality through iteration, playtesting, and polishing.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright and Credit

Dedicated

Contributors

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Introducing the Game Production Process

Game design roles

Specialization and T-shaping

Development teams

Responsibilities of a game designer

Software development models

Waterfall

Agile

Production schedule and milestones

Greenlight gates and vertical slice

A traditional milestone structure

Validation funnel in-game development

The role of a games publisher

Summary

Chapter 2: Preparing a Game Concept

What is a game concept?

Structure of a game concept document

The hook or elevator pitch

Description

Key feature set

Platform

Audience

Genre

Business model

Knowing your competition

Understanding the ideation process

Coming up with ideas

Twisting familiar mechanics

Creativity through constraints

Finding the fun

Defining fantasy

The mood, or how the game looks and feels

Chapter 3: Scoping a Game Project

The evolution of game structure

Common game structures

Linear

Structured nonlinear

Open nonlinear

Endless and sandbox

Notes on structure

Game content

Content burn

Scoping practices

Content lifespan

Game flow

Planning design work

Estimation techniques

Priorities and dependencies

Chapter 4: Creating Design Documentation

The purpose of a GDD

Characteristics of a good GDD

It is modular

It starts with goals and requirements

It is the result of a discussion

It is clear, brief, and concise

It is multimedia

It leaves space for creativity and debate

It comes in different formats and sizes

It is online, shareable, and accessible

Tools for writing a GDD

Word processors

Wikis

Presentations

Note organizers

Digital whiteboards

Mind maps.

Spreadsheets

Illustration tools

Generative AI tools

Writing techniques

Use of style

Layering details

Start with a high-level design

Motion versus action

Write incrementally by drafting

Prioritize

Use of keywords

Table of contents

Bullet points

Images with captions

Diagrams

Variables

Redundancy

Hyperlinks

Elegance in game design

Keep it short and simple (KISS)

The less-is-more principle

Chapter 5: Understanding Game Mechanics

What is a game mechanic?

Examples of game mechanics

Game mechanics interact with each other to develop dynamics

Mechanics and dynamics are part of a feature

Approaching mechanic design

Rules and game mechanics

Mechanics and dynamics produce feedback

Finding the right reference

Deconstructing your references

Additive and subtractive design

Putting it all back together

Chapter 6: Designing Systems and Features

Developing an idea into an experience

Innovating with design

Solving gameplay problems with design

Building a game feature starting from the players

Game loops

Game's model and player's mental loops

Interactive loops

Designer's loops

Progression systems

Progression systems provide pace to the game

Progression systems provide variety

Games as systems of conflict

Opponents

Obstacles

Dilemmas

Quality over quantity

More choices, not best choices

Combat systems

How to design a combat system

Combat depth

Teaching game features

How to design a tutorial

Tutorials in free-to-play games

Chapter 7: Making Prototypes

What is a prototype?

Why a prototype?

Prototyping techniques

Paper prototyping

Digital prototyping

A step-by-step guide to prototyping

Step 1 - ask the right questions.

Step 2 - select the framework and tools

Step 3 - create the rules

Step 4 - implement and create the prototype

Step 5 - the first playtest

Step 6 - iterate

Step 7 - move on

Prototyping exercise

The hands-on game designer

A paper prototype case study

Questioning a combat system

Addressing the problem

From paper to digital

Abstraction versus reality

Moving on

Chapter 8: Designing Compelling Stories for Games

Narrative

Do all games have a narrative?

Why are stories good for games?

Traditional narrative models

The three-act story

Monomyth

Designing narratives for video games

Linear narrative

Modular narrative

Environmental storytelling

Chapter 9: The Fundamentals of Level Design

What is level design?

The level-design process

The premise

The sketch

Grayboxing

Art implementation

Final polish

Level design and storytelling

Level-design practices

Functional level design and realism

Evolving game features

Pacing from day one

Lock and key

Geometry and gameplay

Effects of lighting

Vision as a mechanic

Level design in multiplayer action games

Chapter 10: Creating Characters

Do all games need characters?

The birth of a video game character

Playable characters, NPCs, and enemies

The function of characters

Character statistics, attributes, and abilities

A step-by-step character design

Acquire deep knowledge of the game

Write down the design pillars

Write a high concept

Define and balance the stats

Prototype and iterate

Final implementation

Enemies

Types of villains

Types of enemies

Enemy behaviors and stats

Enemies exist to entertain a player

Diversity

Chapter 11: Balancing Your Content and Systems

Gameplay balancing.

Gameplay balancing methods and tips

MBT balancing

Layered Modifiers

Game difficulty

Static difficulty settings

Automatic difficulty adjustment

Pacing

Mental and sensory stimulation

How to approach pacing

Chapter 12: Building a Great User Interface and User Experience

Understanding UX

Player input

Camera systems

Feedback

Designing UIs

Listing and prioritizing information

UI mockups

UI tips and tricks

Chapter 13: Making Your Games Accessible

Increasing accessibility

Reducing cognitive load

Limiting the complexity of interaction

Maintaining visual clarity

Making audio optional

Restricting negative consequences

Building on common knowledge

Teaching game systems

In-game teaching techniques

Teaching outside gameplay

Best practices

Localization

Playtesting

What to playtest?

Playtesting formats

Sourcing candidates

Running playtesting sessions

Chapter 14: Mastering Games as a Service

Terms of engagement

Basic stats

Marketing and analytics

Economy and balancing

Live operations

Staffing

Efficient live ops

Managing the content treadmill

Live-game balancing

Tools and setup

Content management system (CMS)

Customer relationship management (CRM)

Dashboards

Test environments

Live ops tools

Asset streaming

Events

Event classification

Event components

Event rewards

Community and customer support

Supporting players

Official Discord servers, Reddit communities, and social media accounts

Gathering feedback

Newsletters

Localized customer support

Live streaming

Introduction to season passes

Designing a season pass

Progression mechanics

Accessing previous passes

Premium rewards and perks

Season pass tips

Summary.

Chapter 15: Understanding Monetization Techniques

Basics of F2P monetization

Vectors of monetization

Time

Difficulty

Playable content

Non-playable content

In-game advertisements

Establishing a game economy

Adjusting the monetization strategy

Balancing player progression

Gacha

Weight-based loot tables

Packaging and opening

Maintaining consistency

Kompu gacha

Box gacha

Bundles and targeting

Adjusting your offering based on individual player spending

Purchase rationalization

Evaluate your audience!

Players have limited budgets

Using season passes for monetization

Tips for creating a high-performing season pass

Why do some games fail to monetize?

Poor goal setting

Content is not desirable

Poor balancing (too easy or too hard)

Monetization works but is inherently low performing

Monetization tips and tricks

Earn an opportunity to spend

Player spending should build up your community, not divide it

Disappointments and regrets cost dearly!

Think of technical performance holistically

Scarcity influences value

Focus on daily retention

Optimize your newsletters and notifications

The network effect can make and break your game

Put yourself in the consumer's shoes

Maintain tight control over your rewards

Beware of stockpiling resources

Start strong and hook players onto the long-term premise

Preview content to spark a desire

Chapter 16: The Final 10%

Putting the pieces together

Feature creep

User experience improvement

Polishing

How to polish

Quality assurance

Game designers and QA

Tips for closing a game project

Index

Other Books You May Enjoy.

Notes:

Previous edition: 2018.

Includes QR code to access ebook.

Includes index.

Other Format:

Print version :

ISBN:

9781803233901

1803233907

OCLC:

1396235594