The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition 2nd Edition

This book helped me immensely through designing human interfaces and experiences for website and apps. I picked it up for the game design elements, however the information inside applies to everything and is GOLD.Actually, it's more than gold - it's platinum. Have you seen the nyan cat fly in the sky and unicorns play chess under an oak tree? Neither have I, however by reading this book I have one less thing I won't regret missing. YOLO.Buy this book now and profit!

Schell does a great job outlining the philosophy and process of game design. I bought it for my UTDallas ATEC game design fundamentals class. The book reads like a friendly conversation, making studying a little less boring. I don't necessarily agree with everything, but that's okay- my teacher even mentioned how as Schell is one person writing about such an unscientific field, it's okay to disagree with certain parts.

I could not rent this book; had to buy it. It takes so much brain power to change our minds on anything, and this book rewrites the way I think about game design on every page. It's almost daunting because of how effective it is, but that's my problem of being cowardly and tired; the book is a gem. Get this book on game design first and brace yourself.

Well written & organized. It should be useful.

This is an excellent book. It is jot just about the 'art', but it is more with the philosophy of making great games. A lot of summaries (i.e. the lenses and chapter cover diagram) that help you remember the core points.The flow of the book is great, I feel like reading a story book. It gradually brings you into its point and even exposes your thought! Thank you for writing this great book, Jesse Schell.

Extremely informative, and Jesse is hilarious. First met him at the MWUX conference and he was by far the best speaker I listened to there. He easily captures your attention, probably from his days as a comedian and entertainer. His eclectic life experiences shows in his writing and makes it a fun read. Highly recommended, not just for game designers by any artist interested in communicating their art to the world.

Most definitely the best all inclusive text on game design I've ever seen. I've read the entire book from cover to cover and the amount of information is absolutely worth every penny. Depending on your goals, some areas of this book have to be taken with a grain of salt, but as a general source of knowledge and reference, it is outstanding. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to get into the field of game design/development or anyone who has dabbled but not taken any formal courses or read many definitive texts on the subject.

I am torn about this textbook. There is much to like in The Art of Game Design, and the book is arguably at it's best when Schell relays his extensive personal experiences in the industry. I indeed found some sections to be excellent, for instance the discussions of design principles, of games in education, or or the social responsibilities of designers. I also appreciated the accessible writing style.That said, as a uni instructor looking for a textbook for undergrad students in a Games Studies course, the book ultimately missed the mark for me. Aside from its excessive length and over-ambitious scope, I found many of the observations poorly reasoned and often grounded in a cursory understanding of related fields. I was irritated by the frequent generalisations about 'human nature', the uncritical discussion of 'player types' (taking the controversial arguments by Bartle at face value), and the frequent assumptions about gender in gaming ('women like to play nurturing roles', etc.). The book would have benefitted from a more careful consideration of the state of the field in disciplines like psychology, anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies. Instead, the author ignores much of the academic literatures, and at one point even derides theoretically-minded work as 'pedantic'. This is a real same, and a missed opportunity.In short, if you are looking for inspiration, there is plenty to be found in these pages, but for a more critical assessment of game design I'd recommend turning elsewhere.