Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design

This is an excellent book for anyone wanting to get into the games industry. It is especially good for teachers as it contains exercises that can be used in a class room environment.

I strongly disagree with bad review above. This is a whole book on game design, and as such its strength comes from the consistent presentation and coupling of different relevant concepts. It does not cover every aspect of game design in detail, but it gives a very good overall perspective on how things work. I find it a great book for initial understanding of concepts. Ideally, one should supplement such books with real life articles, forum postings and such - which have the more detailed topical focus.A very good book to read - and the outburst that these guys have no actual game design experience is simply untrue. Adams has had plenty to do with e.g. the NFL Madden football games. Rollings is admittedly more of a exec, but has proven himself through other books.

The person that said this book is by people whom do not write games is mistaken. Ernest adams has written and designed games for one of the largest publishers in the industry. I have commisioned him to guest lecture on my courses and recomend his writing to all my students.Those who have attended his lectures will enjoy this book ans wiull savour the additions of the other author.

It quickly becomes depressingly clear that the authors have little substantive to say on this topic. The points they make are shockingly obvious while the style is humourless and pedestrian.There are now some excellent books on game design (see e.g. Salen and Zimmerman's Rules of Play, or Schell's Book of Lenses). This is not one of them.I was so disappointed by this book that I looked up the authors. It turns out neither of them has ever designed a game! Ernest Adams has *tried* to design a couple of games - but they were both cancelled.