Reading List

Game Dev Books

In Progress:

The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell - 65% complete (374 / 578 pages)

• "The book" for getting into designing games (of any kind, not just video games). It covers everything from the core psychology that makes us like games, to balancing them, to various structures for designing stories, characters, puzzles and so much more. One of my favorite things about this book how it is structured as a series of "lenses" to look at your game from. It acknowledges that many of the topics it covers are far from a science, and nor is designing a game. Rather, great games are created through iteration and repeatedly looking at your game through a series of "lenses" (questions and perspectives) to uncover the problems. And playtesting. If you do nothing else, make sure you playtest!

• I have been treating this book a bit like a college textbook, going through each chapter with care and taking lots of notes as I go.

In the Reading Queue:

Game Feel by Steve Swink - 5% complete (18 / 344 pages)

• While The Art of Game Design looks at designing games holistically, Game Feel takes an empirical look at what makes games feel great to play. I cannot count the number of times I loved the idea of a game, but when I picked it up to play it the controls just didn't quite feel right. It may not ruin the experience, but it seriously diminishes the pleasure I get from playing the game. This is particularly an issue with unoptimized indie titles. Conversely, one of the things I love so much about Call of Duty and Overwatch are just how good they feel to play. I'll sometimes pick them up just to experience the joy of the controls and how responsive the game is to my every input. I want to create games that feel that good, and I hope this book can break down human psychology and metrics for game feel in a way that helps me do so.

The Publishing Challenge for Independent Video Game Developers by Odile Limpach - 20% complete (39 / 208 pages)

• I have a passion for entrepreneurship, and one day I want to make my own games. I've been wanting to learn a little bit more about the business side of developing independent games and this was the most up to date (2020) book on the game publishing and funding space that I could find. I am only a short way in, but so far, it's been a great look at the different kinds of publishers, what they look for when funding, what they functions they provide in addition to capital and a helpful breakdown of the latest games market data (genres, demographics, console/mobile, etc.).

Non-Fiction Books

I am an avid reader of non-fiction. I love learning new perspectives, subjects and skills, especially when packaged in a great, story-focused book (which most of these are)!

Maybe one day I will get around to writing reviews, but for now here is a list of books I've enjoyed and finished:

Books on Psychology

• The Catalyst by Jonah Berger

• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

• Your Brain at Work by David Rock

• Presence by Amy Cuddy

• Mindset by Carol Dweck

Books on Life

• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

  • Don't let the title deter you, this is an incredible book written in 1936 about being genuine, listening to others, not criticizing and carefully considering things from the other person's perspective.

• The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer

• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Books on Health

• The Energy Paradox by Steven R. Gundry

  • An (in my opinion) very interesting deep dive into how our digestive system converts food into energy and the latest scientific discoveries about the microbiome ("gut buddies!").

Business Books

• Competing Against Luck by Clayton M. Christensen

  • The "Jobs to Be Done" book.

• Platform Revolution by Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Sangeet Paul Choudary, Geoffrey G. Parker

• Inspired by Marty Cagan

• Measure What Matters by John Doerr, Larry Page

• From Zero to One by Peter Thiel

• Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen

Biographies

• Einstein by Walter Isaacson

Food for Thought

• Smarter, Faster, Better by Charles Duhigg

• Tribes by Seth Godin

• Choose Yourself by James Altucher

• Messy by Tim Harford

• Range by David Epstein

• Skip the Line by James Altucher

• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff

Isn't non-fiction a little...boring?

Non-fiction books aren't always the most fun or engaging thing read and as such I have finished almost all of these as Audiobooks. If you struggle like I do with finishing non-fiction books, I suggest trying an Audiobook while on a walk, drive, or doing chores! The first book is also the hardest. My first non-school non-fiction book, From Zero to One, was just 224 pages and took me more than six months to finish! My next book was a little faster, the next even faster. A few years later I've been able to build up a good habit of reading and consistently finish books in 1-2 months.