7-7-7 Rule for Game Design (Paperback)

The clearest explanation of game design I have come across.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Worth the money and the reading time, without hesitation.

Worth every page. I have already recommended it to two colleagues.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. I have already recommended it to two colleagues and will recommend it to more.

Outstanding. I kept finding reasons to come back to it.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with game design.