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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 794.81526
EAN: 9781556229121
Edition: 2
ISBN: 1556229127
Label: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
Manufacturer: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 584
Publication Date: August 30, 2004
Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
Studio: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In the second edition to the acclaimed Game Design: Theory & Practice, designer Richard Rouse III balances a discussion of the essential concepts behind game design with an explanation of how you can implement them in your current project. Detailed analysis of successful games is interwoven with concrete examples from Rouse s own experience. Game Design: Theory & Practice, Second Edition thoroughly updates the popular original with new chapters and fully revised text.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
For what it's worth, I'm a professional in the game industry. I haven't written many reviews here on Amazon, but I thought this one deserved some attention.
I'm going to focus on some of the things I didn't see in other reviews.
First off, the back of the book says its level is "Intermediate to Advanced," when it really should read "Beginner to Intermediate." It's nowhere close to what I might call "Advanced." Anyone who plays videogames as a hobby should be able to read and understand 90% of this book, no problem.
Secondly, this book only needs to be about 1/3 of the length it is. The author repeats himself over and over and over, and it's obvious he likes to hear himself talk (he also plugs the games he made any chance he gets, but that's a separate issue). On the bright side, it's a good book to speed read/skim because chances are you won't miss much if you do it. I recently got through his section on design docs, where he says that frequently the quality of your doc is measured by how heavy the doc is (not by the quality of its content), and, well, he's certainly taken that to heart.
Third, he's one of those authors that uses the pronoun "she" instead of the colloquial "he", so be prepared. I thought it humorous that he preaches that we should know our audience when making a game or writing a document, yet there's a very very high chance that an overwhelming majority of the people reading this book are and will be male. Sometimes during his examples he makes it seem like there are whole studios filled solely with women.
Overall, if you're really new to the industry this book might be a good primer, but if you're prone to reading Gamasutra, then you're wasting your time.
Despite what may seem like scathing remarks, I'm giving the game a respectable three stars. It's not a bad book, but the above comments make it a more difficult read than it should be. It's like playing a "7" game; not horrible, but not what it could be. The author gets extra points for at least hitting every relevant game design topic, if only at the surface level.
Rating:  -
That's really great book for every game designer or someone who wants to be one, but also a good one for all other people working on game, so that they can understand design work. Just don't expect programming or animation or other topics from it, it's about "game design" not "game software design" or "game graphics design" or others. It's also very important that author actually IS game designer of commercial games, and included example of design document of one of his released games (The Suffering) - some really good material there, that one is really worth it!
Rating: -
The editorial review is kinda deceiving, so I'll just write what's missing on it: The book tries to balance between theory, practical examples and interviews.
Which may be great to some, but not that great to others.
The book is basicaly structured in this way:
30-50 pages of Theory
5-15 pages of a practical example (something about the theory on an actual game)
15-40 pages of Interview (with some famous game designer... which might be good if the reader knows their games, and might be bad if the reader doesn't, since not much of it is exactly "game designer" content).
That structure is repeated through over and over the book's 677 pages.
But don't get me wrong, the content is still very good. Cover lots of stuff from developing the game concept, to more technical stuff like AI, Multi-playing, Level design and playtesting.
So, a good book that covers lots of stuff on game design without going too deep in specific stuff.
Rating: -
I am currently using this as my Game Design textbook. As a student, it provides not only mere theory, but valuable interviews with upstanding designers. It is clear, and a joy to read.
Rating: -
I got this book to help in a class since it was a course requirement. It has alot of good info and intangibles about game design that is very helpful to anybody that would want to know.
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