Game Design Books

Video Game, Computer Game and Video Design School Programs

Choose A Game Design School

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh - Online Division

Choose a Design School specializing in animation and graphic design

Katharine Gibbs School in New York, NY
 

Sincere Thanks to
www.homestead.com/Fortress_of_infinitude/Fi_Quotes_Game_Making.html

General Game Design

The Art of Computer Game Design by Chris Crawford Read this online book for free!
Game Design & Development Links Knowledge Hound: The How-To Hunter
Game Discovery Search here for game ideas or send some in yourself.
The Video Game Museum They have tons of screenshots (arcade and home) that you can study. They even have "title screen" shots for almost every game.
All Game Guide: Genre & Styles List Descriptions of just about every type of game that has ever been made. A great page for ideas and inspiration.
Game Dictionary Computer games industry definitions.
Defining Games Glossary of video game terms.
Digiplay Initiative Research computer gamers and the game design industry
 

Algorithms, Programming Tips, Articles, & Interviews

 Gravity FAQ This great article shows how to realistically apply physics and gravity to your games, including programmer friendly algorithms (Games++).
Algorithms for an Infinite Universe Generating random terrain, etc. (Gamasutra password needed).
Programmers' Notes: How to Win at Asteroids Learn how Asteroids works from the original programmer (GameArchive).
Arcade Games In The News! Old articles that show the impact the arcade scene caused in the 80s.   Paranoid Ramblings Game design articles by Richard Rouse III.   Pinball Pasture's Pinball Glossary "Don't know what a captive ball is or what SDTM means? This is the place for you!"   So You Want To Be A Pixel Artist? His name is Tsugumo, and this is what he knows.

Game Theory  

 Behavioral Game Design "Unlike game theory, which stresses how a player should react to a situation, this article will focus on how they really do react to certain stereotypical conditions." (Gamasutra password needed.)
BNBG: Game Theory Talks about Tit-For-Tat and other strategies.
Game Theory From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Strategy and Conflict: An Introductory Sketch of Game Theory By Roger A. McCain (He seems to have frequent server troubles, so if the link is dead today, try again tomorrow).  

Professional Computer Game Development  

 Sloperama.com Classic game designer, Tom Sloper, teaches how to get in and move up in the game business, with a new lesson every month.
Become a Game Designer TechTV article by Paul Reiche III.
Develop Your Own Video Game TechTV article by Paul Reiche III.
The Realities of Game Development Article by Krylar (BlitzCoder).
Why Being a Computer Game Developer Sucks From Slashdot.
Why Being a Computer Game Developer Sucks Same article as above from DGD.
So you want to be a Computer Game Developer? From MakeGames.com.
Should working in games be more fun? From gamedev.net.
FDL's Online Clearinghouse - Home page of game designer, François Dominic Laramée.
Advanced Programming Language Design Free PDF book by Raphael Finkel.
fabjob.com Guide to Become a Video Game Designer Read a free sample from an e-book.
DigiPen Institute of Technology "The first school in the world dedicated to computer science instruction as it applies to real-time interactive simulation programming. DigiPen is also one of the oldest computer animation schools in the world."

Blitz Basic   Blitz Basic is an easy-to-use, yet powerful and flexible programming language designed for the sole purpose of writing slick, playable videogames!
  Whether you want to create action packed 3D games, 2D puzzlers, adventures, RPGS, whatever...Blitz can do it!
  Blitz is also a 'compiler'. This means that your programs are converted into ultra-fast machine code before being run for maximum game speed!
  Want to meet a friendly group of Blitzers? Visit BlitzCoder  

Game Programming Resources & Tutorials  

Game Culture: Thinking About Computer Games "The Game Culture website has been developed as a central information resource for academics, developers, gamers and others interested in the significance of computer games as a cultural phenomenon."
GAMES++ Lots of useful information on programming and development.
GameDev.net "Gamedev.net is the leading resource for game developers, featuring daily news updates, over 1000 featured articles and tutorials, and the most active game development forums anywhere!"
Amit's Game Programming Information Information on many subjects including AI.
The Programming Sharehouse A directory of programming resources.
Programmers' Heaven Various programming resources.
Game Creation Resources for Non-Programmers Long list of links and descriptions.
Game Programming Palace More programming resources.  

 Evolutionary Design A practical process for creating great game designs. Back-up link
  Program a game in Blitz Basic Celestial Rift. "Written in April 2001 for Guildhall Leisure as a tutorial for inclusion in the June, July and August editions of PC Format."
  Creative Gaming Resources  dedicated to creative gamers and would-be gaming professionals.
  Artbeats Digital Film Library "Artbeats is the leader in the Royalty-Free Digital Stock Footage industry. We provide feature quality imagery sourced from motion-picture film with licensing that allows unlimited use for any purpose including broadcast."
  How To Make a Realistic Explosion Shows how to create realistic pics of explosions using images from Artbeats.com (good for creating "title screens").

Artificial Intelligence & Artificial Life  

Game AI Artificial Intelligence in games.
GameDev.net AI Resources Links to just about every web site and article related to AI that exists.
Writing Intelligent Games Article by Zafer Barutcuoglu (Games++).
Artificial Emotion: Simulating Mood and Personality Article (Gamasutra).
AI Depot "AI community where everyone interested in artificial intelligence can discuss news, exchange ideas and research information."
Boids Learn how to simulate the flocking behaviors of animals such as birds and fish.
Game AI Guide Picks "List of resources related to the use of AI in game programming, brought to you by your About.com Guide."
Designing Computer Wargames Includes information on artificial intelligence.

Interactive Fiction  

Scott Adams Grand Adventures Home page of legendary adventure game author Scott Adams. While you're there, make sure you check out the Links page. You can also download his classic text adventures to play for free!
  10 Steps to Great Game Design Tips from a fan of interactive fiction.
  Adventureland Lists and describes almost every text adventure made.
  The Craft of Adventure Articles on adventure game design by Graham Nelson.
  Game Design Tips, Adventures, and Rules RPG info that could be helpful when designing interactive fiction.
  XYZZYnews Magazine for interactive fiction enthusiasts.
 
 
  Cooperative Games (study)   Games Just for Fun "These are games to change the world. They show that the alternative to competition, to striving to be the best, to winning at all costs can be enormous fun. That cooperation and sharing not only have some big words going for them like equality, fraternity and justice but a great little word too - fun!"
  Family Pastimes "Play together not against each other"
  Abundant Earth (games for children and adults) "Play as friends, not as enemies"
  Cooperative Sports "Cooperative Sports allow you to play with other people and stay physically fit without spending your leisure time in competition. In sport, Pure Cooperation = Pure Fun!"
  Playfair "The world's leading experts on the power of fun at work"