Introduction

For a quick introduction to the basics of game design, try Basic Game Design and Creation for Fun and Learning, by Nanu and Naveena Swamy. The book is intended to teach foundational game design by having readers design their own simple games, accomplished with the help of a bundled application, Game Maker 6.1.

The games you’ll make are simple 2D educational games (e.g. The DNA Factory, Bug Invasion, The Gravity Game), which range from action-puzzle games to a simple platformer. (If you’re looking to design 3D shooters, this isn’t the book for you.) The games are relatively simple, and the workflow you’ll learn is fairly specific to Game Maker, but the underlying design process is representative of an actual commercial project.

The book’s intro includes some general discussion of the nature of gaming, and there are some similar sections in the appendix, but by-and-large this book presents a practical, hands-on approach to game design. Read on for play-by-play specifics.