Introduction to Game Systems Design

by Dax Gazaway

As games grow more complex and gamers' expectations soar, the discipline of game systems design becomes ever more important. Game systems designers plan a game's rules and balance, its characters' attributes, most of its data, and how its AI, weapons, and objects work and interact. Introduction to Game Systems Design is the first complete beginner's guide to this crucial discipline. Writing for all aspiring game professionals, even those with absolutely no experience, leading game designer and instructor Dax Gazaway presents a step-by-step, hands-on approach to designing game systems with industry-standard tools. Drawing on his experience building AAA-level game systems (including games in the Star Wars and Marvel franchises), Gazaway covers all this, and Whether you're a college freshman entering a game design program, an indie developer using Unreal or Unity, a Dungeon Master, or anyone who wants to really understand modern games, this guide will help you get where you want to go.

Genres: Game Design

384 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 13, 2021

Reviews

[Luke Piazza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I worked in systems design in the industry for years and wish I read this when I started my career.

[Alper Yılmaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does fall into the trap many "introductory" books do, being this seeming desire to touch on lots of tangentially-related subjects, thus diluting the core material. But the bits on systems design are definitely great as far as an introduction goes. I especially appreciated the emphasis on data and testing, and the concept of the "fulcrum", being a statistically middle-of-the-pack variation out of which one can craft enemies, levels etc. Worth the read for beginner designers and those looking to refine their systems-thinking chops.

[WiseB · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book enables one to be aware and understand how a game began vision from ideas to game objects, attributes and mechanics which require design work on range balancing, data fulcrums and hierarchy. During the processes, spreadsheets come in handy for organizing data for analysis, exponential growth charts for game hierarchy and probability calculation to enable random events during the game flow.