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Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design

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Update to include:

Expansion on themes

Touch and touch screen controls

AR enabled games & incorporating real-world camera in to your game

Motion controls

Designing an app icon

Real world level design

Voice over for games and much more...

"Level Up! "covers the entire video game creation process. Readers will learn how to develop marketable ideas, learn what perils and pitfalls await them during a game's pre-production, production and post-production stages. Rogers' also provides creative ideas to serve as fuel for the reader's own projects from game theme and environments to gameplay mechanics.

Inside, video game industry veteran Scott Rogers provides clear and well-thought out examples that forgo theoretical gobbledygook with charmingly illustrated concepts and solutions based on Rogers' years of professional experience. "Level Up! "is the "Understanding Comics" of video game design - an indispensable guide for video game designers both "in the field" and the classroom.

Topics covered include: Understanding what gamers wantCompelling character designWorking with player actionsTechniques for non-human charactersCamera techniques - the camera as a characterDesigning UI and HUDBeautiful level designWhat games designers can learn from theme parksCombat, puzzles and game mechanicsFun and UNFUNHow to make the world's greatest Boss battle (and why not to do it)

and tons more - including the business of design, creating design documents, the pitch and more.

560 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

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About the author

Scott Rogers

46 books10 followers

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5 stars
427 (41%)
4 stars
360 (34%)
3 stars
182 (17%)
2 stars
48 (4%)
1 star
13 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
Profile Image for HBalikov.
1,867 reviews747 followers
February 24, 2019
I am not a game designer; I am certainly not a “video” game designer; I haven’t put together a computer program for a long, long time. So why am I reviewing this book?

I play games; I play some video games and I play RPG. I have some ideas about what makes a great game and I was curious about Rogers’ thoughts on the subject.

I liked his short history of video games.

He moves logically from ideas and story through characters, point of view, elements of combat, bad guys, multiplayer, and covers additions such as music. In each case he deconstructs the topic and then adds his own thoughts. Finally, he has some thoughts on “the business” side.

Here is a sample: “There are many ways to start building level maps. The designers of the original Metal Gear built their levels out of Lego blocks. Many developers do rapid level prototyping in 3-D tools like Maya or 3-D Studio Max. One designer I know liked to model his levels in clay. Myself, I like a ream of blank paper, a very sharp #2 pencil and an eraser. I like making maps on paper because it reminds me of the good old days of creating Dungeons and Dragon levels.”

And speaking of D&D, there is a lot in this book that a dungeon master could use to improve their RPG.

I agree with the publisher's blurb that says that when you read this book you will learn how to:
Create what gamers want
Bring compelling (and playable) characters to life
Build game levels that tell stories and challenge players
Design everything from controls to cutscenes to combat
Structure your game documents for success
Pitch your game like the professions

I hope you are successful and I am sure that this book will be of help.


PS: There is a newer edition of this book, but that wasn’t important for what I was seeking.
Profile Image for Tuğçe .
2 reviews3 followers
June 4, 2017
This is a great book if you don't know much about games and want to have a generic overview of game design. However, if you are like me -an experienced gamer and a novice game developer who makes 2D low budget indie games- you won't get much out of this book. It's very shallow and feels like a glossary most of the time.
Profile Image for Joey Comeau.
Author 41 books646 followers
April 6, 2012
This book is GREAT! It's a whole bunch of really practical thinking about game design. How should the camera work? What should the power-ups be? Level design, achievements, villains, music? Sound effects? It's all illustrate with charming drawings and has a good sense of humour about itself. This is the Understanding Comics of video games, and my only problem with it is that it is priced like a computer book - halfway between a reasonable price and a textbook price. But, I guess that's the way of computer books, and it wouldn't be fair to take a star off for that.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in video games and how they do what they do. If you are interested in creating a game, or even if you like to understand more about what kind of choices and compromises go into the games you love.

Profile Image for Darjeeling.
338 reviews38 followers
October 18, 2022
Get the ebook version here:
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/leve...

Pretty good. Multiple 'Starship Troopers' references.

Does the annoying thing of mixing in 'she' and 'her' with 'he' and 'his' when giving examples, eg: 'Can the player steady her shot?'. Firstly, it feels forced and jarring, since this just isn't how the English language is written, and it's forcing politics and feminism into a book that is supposed to be about videogame design, not a book about feminism and politics. And it doesn't make feminists happy anyway; if you ask them, they insist on the use of genderless pronouns, like 'xe, xir,' etc. There is no point in bending the knee. No matter how low you grovel, they just say 'Grovel more. Grovel lower.' So just write like a normal human being instead of like an ideological puppet. Let your words be in your mouth and their words be in their mouths.

Other than that, I found this very insightful. It helped me to understand why some things are fun and others aren't. That's actually pretty useful in general. If you can make something fun, or at least less unfun, it's easier to get yourself to keep doing it. After reading this I've started to notice not just that some things are not fun, but why they aren't. So that's nice.
4 reviews21 followers
September 13, 2020
This is the first book I've read on Game Design. I am a player. I have played board games, video games and sports all my life. I did not find anything groundbreaking in this book. I guess that it has merit collating all those ideas together and it makes for a nice read but I never felt like I was learning.

Also, there are some concepts I plain disagree with, like the way the author insists on dynamic difficulty. It feels like a manual to create successful games, as in games that people like to play, keep playing till the end and then recommend to other people . What I wanted instead is a manual to create great games (as the title of the book suggests), as in games that leave a mark on the player even if they are not able to finish it, games that push the gaming industry and set new milestones. Sadly, I found none of that.
Profile Image for Remo.
2,324 reviews148 followers
September 23, 2023
Promete ser una guía para el diseño de videojuegos, pero habla muchísimo de marketing, comunicación, plazos de entrega, mercado secundario... También habla, por supuesto, de cómo conseguir que un juego tenga una buena historia y mucha jugabilidad. Para mi gusto, mucho más que la leve introducción que andaba buscando. Muy útil para gente que seriamente esté considerando entrar en el mundo del videojuego en cualquiera de sus facetas.
Profile Image for Alexey Gerasimovich.
Author 5 books7 followers
September 27, 2017
RU:
Хоть я и работаю много лет в индустри видео-игр, я никогда не считал себя гейм-дизайнером. Но нельзя за все годы не научиться абсолютно ничему, особенно работая в команде с отличными специалистами. А потому всегда хочется узнать больше о том, что является частью твоей работы и жизни.

Один из коллег посоветовал книгу "Level Up!" как отличное руководство по теме.

Книга является не столько пособием по гейм-дизайну, сколько хорошим справочником по этой професии. Автор не только рассказывает о всевозможных формах каждого аспекта создания игр с точки дизайна, но и даёт примеры, как это лучше документировать и описывать.

И книга могла бы показаться скучной, если бы не отменный юмор автора, а также десятки иллюстраций, выполненных автором в ироничном и даже карикатурном стиле. Из-за них книга читается почти как юмористический комикс.

Очень рекомендую всем, кому интересна тема гейм-дизайна, а уж если это часть вашей работы, то книга — своего рода Библия (опять же, по уверению коллег, гейм-дизайнеров).

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EN:
Although I work in a video game industry for years, I never thought I am any kind of a game designer. But it is impossible to avoid all this knowledge after all these years, especially if you have a lot of great professionals around you. This is why you want to know more about a big part of your job and entire life.

One of my colleagues recommended me to read 'Level Up!' as one of the best 'manuals' of game design.

The book isn't just a game design tutorial, it is a great handbook. The author explains every type of all aspects of game creation, and give a lot of examples how to document it and keep ideas.

One can say that it most likely too boring to read step-by-step manual, but there are so many humour and dozens of great artwork, created by the author himself in a very ironical and even cartoonish style. This makes the book very easy to read, almost like a comic graphic novel.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a game design. And if it is a part of your job then you have to have it, the book is like a Bible of every game designer (by words of my colleagues, game designers).
Profile Image for Tiago Teixeira.
32 reviews1 follower
April 16, 2021
Se game design te interessa, abra uma amostra deste livro, leia as páginas iniciais e tenho certeza que vai querer conferir o restante.

A forma de escrever do autor é engraçada e direta ao ponto, acompanhada de uma visão profissional e com diversas dicas baseadas na experiência dele. Recomendo!
Profile Image for Krzysztof.
355 reviews13 followers
October 23, 2013
This is a great book. Many things said here aren't anything revolutionary, but are very important as a base for game design and shows how to avoid common pitfalls - some of which are still prevalent in major AAA titles, so a lot of this is rightly mentioned. Sometimes it feels as if there's not enough information, that a topic is barely scratched, but in this kind of book the focus is on game design in general, not on specifics. The book has a definite action bias, but its full of advice useful for all kinds of games.

I can definitely see myself picking this book up many more times to revise the basics, or use the great documentation examples as a basis for my docs.

Highly recommended to any starting-out game designer.

Re-read the book recently, was as useful as the first time!
9 reviews1 follower
August 24, 2018
Overall, I thought this was a really good book when taken in context. This is NOT a book to explain game design way down at the programming level. This book is an excellent 20,000 foot level overview of game design in general. It explains the major modules involved with the design of games such as marketing, financing, artwork, level design, camera control and gives advice on what to do and what not to do from someone whos been on the inside.

This book will not hold your hand and explain how to do video game design, but it will give you the background knowledge to have your own "ah-ha" moments when you start your own designs.
Profile Image for Angela Randall.
Author 42 books321 followers
Want to read
January 17, 2011
Just found out about this book from this article on gaming. The article weighs up the pros and cons of playing computer games and surmises that 7-21 hours per week is ideal, especially if half of your time is spent playing games with other people (either multi-player online or real-life against each other or cheering each other on). It also suggests using this book to learn how to make games.
Profile Image for Robert Ling.
17 reviews
September 29, 2013
By far the best book on Game Design put there. It has a great blend of friendly advice, and healthy installment of how to do things, complete with comparisons of good vs. bad design documentation etc.

If you are looking to learn more about our industry, or how to get started, this book is a great place to start. Heck, even if you are just an avid gamer with a curiosity for how we do it, check this book out.
Profile Image for thirtytwobirds.
119 reviews56 followers
July 24, 2012
A good, wide introduction to the non-technical aspects of creating games. If you're looking for a programming book you should look elsewhere, but this covers (in broad strokes) lots of the other parts of making games.

Focuses more on bigger-budget games created by larger studios and less on the indie game developer, but single developers can still learn a lot from reading it.
3 reviews
February 7, 2019
An amazing guide for both Newbies and veterans on the game developing industry, written in an easygoing diction with some anecdotes, it is really helpful as it can serve both as a guide and as a reminder.
1 review
August 17, 2020
A must-read for anyone planning to start or already in the game industry. It has a lot of content and great advice, all presented in a easy to understand, lighthearted manner, with tons of examples and with an excellent pacing.

Wholeheartedly recommend it.
Profile Image for Nick.
Author 2 books119 followers
September 1, 2014
Didn't get a chance to read the whole thing, but I liked what I read, and it has helped us in game design, much more than Rules of Play did.
Profile Image for Jenni Powell.
44 reviews7 followers
February 20, 2017
Anyone wanting to get into designing video games has to start with this book first. And keep a copy on hand to reference later. It puts the fun in functional.
Profile Image for Mykola.
18 reviews5 followers
February 6, 2018
It is сalled a Game Design Bible, and I totally agree with that. Easy-reading book with a lot of examples and principles of designing games.
Profile Image for Michael.
65 reviews
February 26, 2018
Great book. Good logical flow. Easy to dip in and out of when your looking for specifics. Lots of content related to development in general.
8 reviews5 followers
March 3, 2018
One of the best books on game design I’ve read. Very practical and easy to read.
Profile Image for Blazej.
45 reviews
September 14, 2018
One of the best all-in-one primers to game making. Of course there are simplifications and shortcuts but still a great read for any beginners and people working WITH gamedev.
53 reviews
September 8, 2020
Great overview on game design, organised very neatly in the chapters and sub topics inside.

Fun and engaging to read.
Profile Image for Dean.
37 reviews8 followers
September 23, 2017
If you're anything but a complete novice, then perhaps this isn't the book for you: it does only cover the very basics of what a computer game should (and should not be), and is in essence a glossary of the fundamental mechanics underpinning games. For a complete novice (like myself), however, or for someone who is interested in designing games but needs a little inspiration/food for thought, I think this a good starting place.

It's easy to read, I found Scott to be an entertaining writer but also able to convey what is in essence a large quantity of fairly tedious information, and the amusing diagrams and illustrations did help to both convey some of the concepts as well as break up the walls of text. There's also a lot of information about creating your Game Design Document (GDD) and pitches - with full examples of these at the end of the book - which I think justify the existence of the book on their own. I'll definitely be referring back to these when I start cobbling my ideas together!

I'm sure there are more insightful / thought-provoking books than this out there - but if you want an overview/refresh of the fundamentals without being bogged down in theory, I'd definitely recommend this book.
February 2, 2024
Wide and thin. A lot of stating the obvious. The book is more of a "what games are" than "how to make good games".

A big chunk of the book focuses on mentioning different type of elements in games, with examples, within all types of genres. Maybe this could be useful for someone new to the field, but I can hardly imagine someone understand why is it of any importance without having the proper context of what those games look like, and why these examples work and fit within a game's design.

The book paints a very broad picture of games. You will know what types of games, environments, enemies, mechanics and worlds there were* within the gaming space (*it's quite dated), which you will probably know about anyway if you want to read books on making games.

But it's not all bad if you are a beginner game designer and you don't mind reading a lot, cause from time to time you will find a small nugget of knowledge that will be useful. And overall even though the text is rudimentary, I did agree with most of what was said.

While the lettuce and tomato is good, there is not much meat to chew on.
So sadly, I did not level up.
Profile Image for Diogo Muller.
598 reviews7 followers
December 24, 2017
This book is a great overview on game development and design, but doesn't go too deep into many of the facets, so some people may think it is a bit too superficial, but as someone that works with games and knows many people who works with games, I wish more people - not just designers, but artists and developers too - read this and followed some of the authors advices. I've seen people fall in the the most obvious pitfalls described here.

If you work with games and didn't read it yet, please do. In special if you work as a designer, producer, or anything with any decision power. Your team will be happier this way.
Profile Image for Anna.
232 reviews1 follower
January 8, 2022
This book is one heck of an introduction to video game design. I loved how approachable the book was towards newcomers and even veterans of game design. I felt that I learned a lot about the process of video game design and every aspect that goes into the successful creation of a video game. Not to mention that Scott guides the reader through topics with clarity and a captivating sense of humor (and a banger chili recipe to boot). I want to go out a purchase a physical copy for myself and would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a good start in creating video games.
Profile Image for Cristine.
107 reviews
May 11, 2017
Interessante para quem não conhece nada do mundo de desenvolvimento de games.

Aborda todo o pipeline de produção, mas de maneira superficial. Tem alguns bons insights, analogias interessantes e várias boas dicas.

O autor demonstra conhecer bem o assunto mas sofre de "síndrome de stand-up comedy". Parece mais preocupado em ser engraçado do que em se aprofundar nos tópicos. Se o leitor não se incomodar com as piadas ruins e os trocadilhos mal feitos, a leitura consegue ser agradável.
58 reviews
October 21, 2021
PT-BR
O autor claramente sabe do que está falando e fez questão de passar por cima de todos os detalhes superficiais sobre o design de jogos; apesar de tudo, tenho que concordar com a ideia de alguns comentários aqui sobre a disposição de conteúdos: pra quem joga ou já jogou com um olhar mais crítico, pouco do que foi dito será necessariamente uma novidade. Fora isso, ainda foi bom dar uma lida geral e ver coisas que pareciam antes intangíveis, desta vez listadas.
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