Player Experience Design in 20 Minutes (Coffee Break Series)

Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

I got a lot out of this, even if a few sections felt rushed.

This is the third book I have read on game design this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Good value for the price and worth the time it takes to work through properly.

A superb guide. The examples are small but complete.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.