*** Jesse Schell – The Art of Game Design This is the book I am using a lot for my lecture. Very good summary of the most important design aspects from different points of view (technical aspects, player psychology, all different design things).![](http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1466598646&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=DE&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=httpjpirkecom-21) | *** Celia Hodent – The Gamer’s Brain This is a fantastic book focusing on explaining so many aspects responsible for a good user experience in games. It shows many great examples from successful games.
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*** Scott Rogers – Level Up (2nd Edition) Also a very good design on game design. I’ve especially enjoyed the bonus chapters with inspirational lists for environments, game mechanics, and different templates as inspirational resource for your games.![](http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1118877160&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=DE&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=httpjpirkecom-21) ![](http://ir-de.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=httpjpirkecom-21&l=as2&o=3&a=1118877160) | ** Jeremy Gibson – Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development This book gives also a very nice introduction on game design techniques, but in a more practical manner. The main part of this book is a unity and C# tutorial.![](http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0321933168&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=DE&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=httpjpirkecom-21) ![](http://ir-de.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=httpjpirkecom-21&l=as2&o=3&a=0321933168) |
** Raph Koster – A Theory of Fun I simple love the style of this book. It has comics and sketches 😉![](http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1449363210&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=DE&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=httpjpirkecom-21) ![](http://ir-de.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=httpjpirkecom-21&l=as2&o=3&a=1449363210) | * Flow – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Wonderful book (THE book) about the flow experience with neat examples from all different fields.![](http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0061339202&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=DE&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=httpjpirkecom-21) ![](http://ir-de.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=httpjpirkecom-21&l=as2&o=3&a=0061339202) |
* Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman – Rules of Play Very interesting book on game design with a lot of practical examples.![](http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0262240459&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=DE&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=httpjpirkecom-21) ![](http://ir-de.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=httpjpirkecom-21&l=as2&o=3&a=0262240459) | *** Jane McGonigal – Reality is Broken One of my favourite books. Jane McGonigal gives some inspirations and ideas of how to use games in different contexts. Reads like a novel and avoids theoretical aspects.![](http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0099540282&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=DE&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=httpjpirkecom-21) ![](http://ir-de.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=httpjpirkecom-21&l=as2&o=3&a=0099540282) |