250 Indie Games You Must Play


Book Description

With a surge in popularity recently and an increase in great downloadable games, there has never been a better time to learn about independent "indie" games. 250 Indie Games You Must Play is a guide to the exciting and expanding world of indie gaming. Whether you are a veteran of the indie game scene or have never played an indie game before, this book helps you experience the best in indie gaming and further your understanding of why indie games are so important in the entertainment industry. The wide range of games highlighted in the text encompasses concepts and ideas that will change your perspective of what video games can be. The book covers puzzlers, platformers, beat ‘em ups, shoot ‘em ups, role-playing, and strategy. Apart from being fun, indie games can be experimental, emotional, nostalgic, and occasionally just plain bizarre. Some make you sit back in awe, while others have you thinking, "Why have I never played a game like this before?" Better still, the majority of these games are completely free to play and even the commercial releases are incredibly cheap. Once you start playing indie games, you may not be able to look at your big-budget blockbusters the same way ever again.







250 Indie Games You Must Play


Book Description

This book is a guide to the expanding world of indie gaming. It helps readers to understand why indie games are so important to so many people in the entertainment industry. The book covers puzzlers, platformers, beat 'em ups, shoot 'em ups, role-playing, and strategy.




Indie Games


Book Description

The only book for indie gamers that asks, "What do you want to do?" before it says, "Here's what you need to do!" Based on Don Daglow's top-rated games sessions at GDC, Devcom/Gamescom and events from Shanghai to Toronto to Berlin. Over 90 questions to ask yourself as you prepare to develop your indie game - respond to what's relevant, skip past what's not. Detailed feedback on what to do with your answers from a 3-time Inc. 500 CEO whose honors include a Technology & Engineering Emmy® and multiple Game of the Year awards. -- back cover.




Reality Is Broken


Book Description

“McGonigal is a clear, methodical writer, and her ideas are well argued. Assertions are backed by countless psychological studies.” —The Boston Globe “Powerful and provocative . . . McGonigal makes a persuasive case that games have a lot to teach us about how to make our lives, and the world, better.” —San Jose Mercury News “Jane McGonigal's insights have the elegant, compact, deadly simplicity of plutonium, and the same explosive force.” —Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother A visionary game designer reveals how we can harness the power of games to boost global happiness. With 174 million gamers in the United States alone, we now live in a world where every generation will be a gamer generation. But why, Jane McGonigal asks, should games be used for escapist entertainment alone? In this groundbreaking book, she shows how we can leverage the power of games to fix what is wrong with the real world-from social problems like depression and obesity to global issues like poverty and climate change-and introduces us to cutting-edge games that are already changing the business, education, and nonprofit worlds. Written for gamers and non-gamers alike, Reality Is Broken shows that the future will belong to those who can understand, design, and play games. Jane McGonigal is also the author of SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient.




Extra Lives


Book Description

In Extra Lives, acclaimed writer and life-long video game enthusiast Tom Bissell takes the reader on an insightful and entertaining tour of the art and meaning of video games. In just a few decades, video games have grown increasingly complex and sophisticated, and the companies that produce them are now among the most profitable in the entertainment industry. Yet few outside this world have thought deeply about how these games work, why they are so appealing, and what they are capable of artistically. Blending memoir, criticism, and first-rate reportage, Extra Lives is a milestone work about what might be the dominant popular art form of our time.




Game Art


Book Description

Game Art is a collection of breathtaking concept art and behind-the-scenes interviews from videogame developers, including major players like Square Enix, Bioware, and Ubisoft as well as independent but influential studios like Tale of Tales and Compulsion Games. Immerse yourself in fantastic artwork and explore the creative thinking behind over 40 console, mobile, and PC games. A lone independent developer on a tiny budget can create an experience as powerful and compelling as a triple-A blockbuster built by a team of 1,000. But like all works of art, every game begins with a spark of inspiration and a passion to create. Let Game Art take you on a visual journey through these beautiful worlds, as told by the minds that brought them to life.




Relicblade


Book Description

Core rulebook for Relicblade adventure battle game. Tabletop fantasy skirmish miniature game.




A Mind Forever Voyaging


Book Description

...Traces the evolution of interactive video games by examining 13 landmark titles that challenged convention and captured players' imaginations worldwide...the focus on those that tell stories...-cover.




The Illustrated History of 151 Video Games


Book Description

More than any other entertainment medium, videogames offer the chance for us to participate in a worldbeyond the ordinary. Whether you are playing as asupersonic hedgehog, an athletic archeologist, or amoustachioed Italian plumber, video games allow theirplayers to inhabit spaces where the usual parameters ofexistence do not apply. The medium's history ischronicled through the individual stories of 151 of themost iconic video games. Beginning in the early 1970s, the book charts five decades of the pixel revolution. Thestory of each game is accompanied by trivia andquotations, and illustrated with photographs, screenshotsand artwork. This celebratory reference, and up-to-datehistory, will enthral any video games aficionado. - Chronicles the history of gaming through an analysis of151 of the world's most-iconic and best-loved games - Expert analysis of the story of each game, accompaniedby fascinating trivia, memorable quotes, and informationon the year of publication and where the game can beplayed today - Includes titles across all platforms, including arcade, console, PC, online and handheld games - Charts five decades of video game evolution, fromComputer Space to Fez - Compulsively illustrated with over 1000 actionscreenshots, game artworks and photographs