Unlock Now 20 Essential Games To Study Created By Joshua Bycer Released Through Publication

parts an insightful journey into a selected set of gameplay mechanics and video games that are a prime example of implementing them right.
Occasionally veers into confusing tirades on weird details in games like The World Ends with You, but mostly helps learn to identify and appreciate the ingenuity of certain games' design.


As an amateur games reviewer I found this a useful guide, I have to admit I started this a little prejudiced since the selection of games seems rather random: while the games are certainly no duds, it's hard to see why they should be particularly essential especially when seven of them are sequels or reboots.


After a brief preface and author bio where Mr, Bycer states several times how detailed his reviews are and how practically nobody else achieves a similar depth, he starts with the first detailed reviews, Star Control and Super Metroid, after which I'm afraid I abandoned the book.


As much as I tried to appreciate his efforts, I simply couldn't find any of the claimed attributes in them: they are short and confused descriptions of the titles with hardly any attempt to explain what sets them apart from other games.
Both follow a similar pattern: after a disinterested summary of the game's features, some of the design characteristics are pointed at but there is no apparent concept, it's just a collection of thoughts that have no structure or overarching reason to them.
This is exemplified by a lack of any real research beyond very general properties: Star Control is “one of the first examples” of its genre, and “one of the few” games that is readily approachable.
Even worse, Super Metroid is “one of the games that consumers characterize as one of the best examples” of its particular design.
How much more vague could you be

Along the same lines, it is not really explained why those games were chosen: Star Control is “the obvious sequel“ to the first part, but on a larger scale.
So why is the first game not an essential game to study, then Similarly, “What made Super Metroid worthy of study was that it elevated the action genre while being one of the purest examples of Metroidvania design.
” This is lazy writing at its worst: “one of the” purest examples Of what, again The term “Metroidvania” is never explained, except by a wishywashy “people have come to reference this design after the combination of Castlevania and Metroid”.


In these two first reviews, there was no hint of any real insights, neither concerning the design of the games, nor explaining their special place among other games.
And since there was also no reason to expect this to be different for the othergames, I felt I could spend my time better with other books.
At first, its a bland top ten list, but Bycer does a great job of giving more than game synopsis, Each exploration of a game includes lots of little details about what makes each game meaningful to designers and the industry direction together,

Games that I before thought “oh that was fun for some reason,” now I can point to and say “here is exactly why: the health system!”

I appreciate this more in depth look at design and think it can be really helpful for budding designers to begin putting words to abstract concepts.
The purpose of this book is to look over the pastyears of games to discuss titles whose design deserves to be studied by anyone with an interest in game design.
While there are plenty of books that focus on the technical side of Game Development, there are few that study the nature of game design itself.
Featuring a mix of console and PC offerings, I purposely left off some of the easy choices Mario, Starcraft, Call of Duty, Overwatch to focus on games that stood out thanks to their designs.




Key Features

An informative breakdown focusing on the design and gameplay of successful games Written to be useful for students or designers starting out in game development Books focused specifically on design are rare Perfect for students and professionals alike, or can be read for the nostalgia and

history.