Game Story, Design & Production

       Video games aren't just great entertainment, they're one of the most dynamic areas of the entertainment world, with successful games generating revenue that rivals some of the biggest film and album releases. It takes the right kind of leaders to help manage the titles that innovate and inspire gamers, and keep the industry growing both creatively and financially. Today's top game development houses thrive on leadership of a great production staff to oversee their multi-million dollar titles, and the resources on this page will help you become one of these creative decision makers. You will learn the design, leadership, and management needs of this creative industry. You will also learn creative writing to create compelling stories. In today's age of immersive entertainment and media, it's not enough to create games that simply work. They must be rich in story and be able to engage audiences for hours at a time. 


What is a Game Designer? 
     A game designer is someone with a deep understanding of how to make games both fun and captivating. It's more than just simply having ideas for a fun game. It's understanding how people feel when they're playing video games. You need to understand things like how to motivate players to take a particular action, how to make players feel strong emotions, how to create challenges that get them invested in the game, and so on.


Do I have to be a skilled programmer to know game design?
     This will be a relief for many of you, but in short - No. You don't have to be some crazy skilled game programmer in order to be an excellent designer. While coding is certainly very helpful, its not necessary. There are many game designers who never typed a single line of code. Most studios have a surplus of good programming talent. Yet good game designers are always in high demand. Why? In short, good game designers are a rare breed. Unlike programming, game design isn't as openly taught and all the best people are usually working for themselves or other studios.

Books A Game Design Vocabulary Designing Games Advanced Game Design Theory of Fun for Game Design, 2nd Ed Story Writing & Character Development

Videos  Introduction to Game Design GDC Design Talks Introduction to Game Design Basic Principles of Game Design  How Game Designers Protect Players From Themselves Extra Credits: Game Design - Take a deeper look at the principles of Game Design Story & Narrative  Extra Credits: Writing for Games - Take a deeper look at Game Narrative with the Extra Credits crew.  GDC Narrative Talks Level Design Level Design Analysis Level Design Principles, Methods & Tutorials Level Design & Environment Ideas with Google Maps 3D The Importance of Everything: Analytics of Map Design Game Examples (Level Design & Game Environment Art) Business & Production  Game Production GDC Production Talks Game Design for Producers & Business Folks - Starting your own studio? Managing a team? Work in marketing? Learn how to deal with challenges and questions you'll face in business-and leadership-oriented jobs in the game industry Monetization Extra Credits: Monetization - Learn how people use real-world money in games, for good and for evil Extras Extra Credits: Games in Politics - Video games and global governments don't seem like a likely pair, but they've been intertwined ever since gaming became ingrained in our pop culture. Let's look at the history of how politicians and game developers can help--or hinder--each other's goals. Extra Credits: Game Analysis - Put Extra Credits principles to good use by using examples from specific games to do in-depth Game Analysis.