For the Gamer in ALL of Us

A great book on how to make an addictive and powerful casual game. Even if you’re not into casual games, the lessons and insights in this book are extremely useful for understanding where the special sauce lives in games. If you know that, you can make games that people want to play: hardcore or casual, young or old, male or female. Buy it on Amazon here.

Viva la Wii

A very accessible AND scholarly look at casual games and why they are important to the gaming ecosystem of today and tomorrow. It’s easy to fall into just liking the games you like and thinking all others are somehow ‘less than’. This book is fantastic at broadening those horizons and keeping the designer’s mind open to more possibilities. Buy it on Amazon here.

The Textbook for Game Designers

When you’re ready to get knee deep in game design theory and examine the inner clockwork of games as systems, this is the book you should have your nose in. Buy it on Amazon here.

See if you have what it takes

A great book to have for the designer who likes to sharpen their skills and keep them sharp. This collection of non-digital exercises shows that game design is not just for video games, it is a skill that can be used wherever there are movable parts. It’s an insightful, challenging, and important read. Buy it on Amazon here.

Breaking Into the Industry

The subtitle says it all: breaking in and succeeding in the computer and video game business. This is a great manual for understanding how gaming works as a business and how you could be a part of that in one of the hundreds of roles available. If you want to work in the game industry, but don’t know what to do next, read this book. Buy it on Amazon here.

A Collection of Love Letters

Katie Salen, a renowned game designer and scholar, says “Well Played 1.0 is nothing short of a love letter to games, collectively written by some of the best and brightest designers, thinkers, and critics working in the field of games today.” A great designer needs to know how to ‘play well’ in order to critically understand what he or she is playing. By reading this collection, you’ll gain a better sense of what it is that games are capable of when we’re under their spell. Buy it on Amazon here.

A Book of Spells, I mean Lenses

If there were ever a Game Design Book of Spells, this would be it. Jesse Schell calls them lenses, but either way, if you master them, you will be a game design magician. Pick this book up and you’ll find yourself referring to it for as long as you make games. Buy it on Amazon here.

A Bit of Everything

An incredibly ambitious book that succeeds in all directions. It’s got theory, playtesting advice, industry info, game analysis, and yet it’s easy to read and follow along. It often feels as though the author knows what questions are popping up in your head. My favorite part is that it helps game designers who are just getting started on how to prototype their game ideas. Very useful. Buy it on Amazon here.