Books Game Designers Should Read
4. 
5. 
Educational Game Design Fundamentals: A Journey to Creating Intrinsically Motivating Learning Experiences 4.33 avg rating β 42 ratings
6. 
Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World
by:
Jane McGonigal
3.79 avg rating β 8,270 ratings 
8. 
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
by:
David Kushner
4.29 avg rating β 19,678 ratings 
13. 
18. 
18. 
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
by:
Haruki Murakami
4.11 avg rating β 148,398 ratings 
21. 
24. 
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
by:
Jared Diamond
4.04 avg rating β 445,037 ratings 25. 
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series) 4.42 avg rating β 5,326 ratings
27. 
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by:
Malcolm Gladwell
4.01 avg rating β 844,247 ratings 
29. 
Designing Games: A Guide to Engineering Experiences
by:
Tynan Sylvester
4.46 avg rating β 454 ratings 31. 
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39. 
A Game Design Vocabulary: Exploring the Foundational Principles Behind Good Game Design
by:
Anna Anthropy
3.95 avg rating β 130 ratings 40. 
Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation
by:
Blake J. Harris
3.97 avg rating β 11,820 ratings 
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Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic
by:
Brad King
3.61 avg rating β 393 ratings 
46. 
46. 
Virtual Reality: The Revolutionary Technology of Computer-Generated Artificial Worlds - and How It Promises to Transform Society
by:
Howard Rheingold
3.77 avg rating β 137 ratings 46. 
Graphic Icons: Visionaries Who Shaped Modern Graphic Design
by:
John Clifford
really liked it 4.00 avg rating β 53 ratings 
46. 
Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, and Narrative Theory
by:
Marie-Laure Ryan
3.95 avg rating β 39 ratings 46. 
46. 
The Micro Kids: An 80s Adventure with ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and more (Video Games Book)
by:
Gary Plowman
3.96 avg rating β 71 ratings 46. 
ZX Spectrum Games Code Club: Twenty fun games to code and learn
by:
Gary Plowman
4.13 avg rating β 15 ratings 46. 
The Micro Kids: An 80s Adventure with ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and more
by:
Gary Plowman
3.96 avg rating β 71 ratings 46. 
Think Like A Game Designer: The Step-by-Step Guide to Unlocking Your Creative Potential
by:
Justin Gary
4.04 avg rating β 159 ratings 
59. 
Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture
by:
Johan Huizinga
3.99 avg rating β 2,856 ratings 59. 
The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security
by:
Kevin D. Mitnick
3.77 avg rating β 7,162 ratings 59. 
Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens: Design Principles, Aesthetic Values
by:
David A. Slawson
4.07 avg rating β 30 ratings 59. 
The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age 3.88 avg rating β 65 ratings
59. 
Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound
by:
Scott Rigby
really liked it 4.00 avg rating β 110 ratings 59. 
The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers: Volume 1
by:
John Szczepaniak
3.66 avg rating β 171 ratings 59. 
The Infinite Playground: A Player's Guide to Imagination
by:
Bernard De Koven
3.86 avg rating β 51 ratings 
66. 
Pikachu's Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of PokΓ©mon
by:
Joseph Tobin
3.91 avg rating β 98 ratings 66. 
Think Like an Architect (Roger Fullington Series in Architecture)
by:
Hal Box
4.02 avg rating β 108 ratings 
66. 
The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers: Volume 2
by:
John Szczepaniak
really liked it 4.00 avg rating β 35 ratings 66. 
73. 
Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide
by:
Henry Jenkins
3.86 avg rating β 3,816 ratings 73. 
Stay Awhile and Listen: Book I - How Two Blizzards Unleashed Diablo and Forged a Video-Game Empire 3.82 avg rating β 611 ratings
76. 
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
by:
Chris Anderson
3.82 avg rating β 29,932 ratings 77. 
Doer's Dilemma - Why Achievers Suffer And What To Do About It
by:
Tom E. Jones
liked it 3.00 avg rating β 8 ratings 77. 
SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient--Powered by the Science of Games
by:
Jane McGonigal
3.94 avg rating β 2,807 ratings 
81. 
You Have Died of Dysentery: The creation of The Oregon Trail β the iconic educational game of the 1980s 4.14 avg rating β 28 ratings
85. 
The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 2nd Edition 4.10 avg rating β 10,249 ratings
85. 
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemicβand How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
by:
Steven Johnson
3.89 avg rating β 55,255 ratings 85. 
Breakout: Pilgrim in the Microworld (Boss Fight Books, #22)
by:
David Sudnow
3.74 avg rating β 133 ratings 85. 
Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons From Science Fiction
by:
Nathan Shedroff
3.86 avg rating β 314 ratings 
90. 
The Visual Time Traveller: 500 Years of History, Art and Science in 100 Unique Designs
by:
Alison Hackett
4.50 avg rating β 6 ratings 90. 
Stay Awhile and Listen: Book II - Heaven, Hell, and Secret Cow Levels 4.04 avg rating β 154 ratings
93. 
The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation 4.37 avg rating β 267 ratings
93. 
Manga in Theory and Practice: The Craft of Creating Manga
by:
Hirohiko Araki
4.25 avg rating β 1,398 ratings 95. 
Mathematical Models in Biology (Classics in Applied Mathematics, Series Number 46) 4.22 avg rating β 37 ratings
95. 
Dungeon Hacks: How NetHack, Angband, and Other Roguelikes Changed the Course of Video Games 3.80 avg rating β 350 ratings
95. 
The Anatomy of Super Mario (The Anatomy of Games Volume 1)
by:
Jeremy Parish
3.67 avg rating β 52 ratings 98. 
Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games and Their Impact on the People who Play Them
by:
Jamie Madigan
4.04 avg rating β 463 ratings 
100. 
Digital Storytelling: A Creator's Guide to Interactive Entertainment 3.43 avg rating β 90 ratings