The games industry is serious business and the role of a games designer has dramatically changed over just the last few years. Developers now have to rethink everything they know about the creative, technical and business challenges to adapt to the transition to games as a service. Games as a Service: How Free to Play Design Can Make Better Games has been written to help designers overcome many of the fears and misconceptions surrounding freemium and social games. It provides a framework to deliver better games rather than the ‘evil’ or ‘manipulative’ experiences some designers fear with the move away from wasteful Products to sustainable, trustworthy Services. Oscar Clark is a consultant and Evangelist for Everyplay from Applifier. He has been a pioneer in online, mobile and console social games services since 1998 including Wireplay (British Telecom), Hutchison Whampoa (3UK) and PlayStation®Home. He is a regular columnist on PocketGamer.Biz and is an outspoken speaker and moderator at countless games conferences on Games Design, Discovery, and Monetisation. He is also a notorious hat wearer.

Game Design Deep Dive: Free-to-Play (F2P) continues the series’ focus on examining genres with a look at the history and methodology behind free-to-play and mobile games. The genre is one of the most lucrative and controversial in the industry. Josh Bycer lays out not only the potential and pitfalls of this design but also explores the ethics behind good and bad monetization. This book offers: A comprehensive look at the practices behind the most popular free-to-play and mobile games A detailed talk about the ethics of F2P, and one of the few honest looks at it from both sides of the argument A perfect read for designers, students, or people wanting to educate themselves about the practices of the genre Joshua Bycer is a Game Design Critic with more than seven years of experience critically analyzing game design and the industry itself. In that time, through Game-Wisdom.com, he has interviewed hundreds of game developers and members of the industry about what it means to design video games.

This book unveils the secrets of extraordinarily successful games and hands you a smarter way to create exceptional engagement and convert it into revenue. It teaches you detailed LiveOps techniques that show you how to keep your game appealing through engaging events, personalized experiences, and smart monetization. You’ll discover the "3 LAPs of Operations" framework—a dynamic, question-driven process that you can implement to systematically boost retention and achieve your game's financial goals. The book delves into the intricate business of live service games, explaining how to enhance your operational efficiency with precise toolset implementations and analytics. While some studio leaders merely talk about "riding the trend", this approach is far too passive. Embrace the shift towards people-driven game development, where your players evolve from mere consumers into active co-creators. This transformation allows you to construct your own trend, known as People's LiveOps, where you engage your most devoted fans and offer them opportunities to earn a living through their creations. Essential for professionals in live service games, this book is also invaluable for aspiring talents and seasoned experts aiming to enter or excel in the gaming industry.

We Deserve Better Villains is a highly accessible how-to guide for video game designers no matter what level of experience to understand what is needed to be successful in the development cycle of any video game from concept to supporting the game live. Each chapter outlines a period in a video games development cycle, what key concepts need to be on a designers mind and how they can work to improve themselves every step of the way. To help visualize the journey the chapters start with a section centered on the reader as a hero character in a fictitious adventure video game that faces the trials and tribulations of the development cycle to completing the game. We all deserve better games, better heroes and villains which starts with learning what it takes to survive in the game development system as a videogame designer. Key Features Accessible enough for novices, insightful enough for veteran game designers Allows readers of at any level of video game knowledge to connect with the struggle of making a video game Concepts are delivered in a short, specific approach followed with practical exercises to follow to getting the reader into action to improve their skills

Game design is changing. The emergence of service games on PC, mobile and console has created new expectations amongst consumers and requires new techniques from game makers. In The Pyramid of Game Design, Nicholas Lovell identifies and explains the frameworks and techniques you need to deliver fun, profitable games. Using examples of games ranging from modern free-to-play titles to the earliest arcade games, via PC strategy and traditional boxed titles, Lovell shows how game development has evolved, and provides game makers with the tools to evolve with it. Harness the Base, Retention and Superfan Layers to create a powerful Core Loop. Design the player Session to keep players playing while being respectful of their time. Accept that there are few fixed rules: just trade-offs with consequences. Adopt Agile and Lean techniques to "learn what you need you learn" quickly Use analytics, paired with design skills and player feedback, to improve the fun, engagement and profitability of your games. Adapt your marketing techniques to the reality of the service game era Consider the ethics of game design in a rapidly changing world. Lovell shows how service games require all the skills of product game development, and more. He provides a toolset for game makers of all varieties to create fun, profitable games. Filled with practical advice, memorable anecdotes and a wealth of game knowledge, the Pyramid of Game Design is a must-read for all game developers.

Provides unique guidance on how to craft narrative for mobile and live games. Includes practical exercises to help readers apply the knowledge gained within to their own games and design processes. Covers both development and production processes for open-ended and seasonal storytelling.