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[LemonScented]

Rules of Play is pretty classic stuff, but I also got a lot out of "The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses" by Jesse Schell.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Game-Design-book-lenses/dp/0123694965

It starts a bit strangely ("just say to yourself "I AM A GAMES DESIGNER!"... Say it with me!...") but after a couple of chapters it settles down into a series of useful and applicable different ways to approach game design, all of which can generate some insight if used well.

[brog]

http://gamedesignconcepts.wordpress.com/
edit: http://gamebalanceconcepts.wordpress.com/

[scrubshine]

Oh my god I'm going to be digging into these links for weeks 

[siegarettes]

I second Chris Crawford. Chris Crawford on Game Design is quite good and has some interesting tips.

Also, if you have some Steam games I recommend listening to the developer commentary, it gives you a good idea of design concepts as you play through the game. You can access it through the main menu or extras menu of many new Valve games.

[dongle]

Necroing this topic to say thanks.

Also, everyone should read Auntie Pixelante's essays on design.

[pelle]

Greg Costikyan's various texts on the subject are well worth reading (his No Words ... essay say pretty much 95 % of what I have learned in total from all books and other articles; I'm still not convinced you really NEED to read anything beyond that essay to understand game design). I also like Chris Crawford on Game Design. His old book about game design that you can read for free online somewhere is quite interesting as well, and not as dated as I had expected.

Rules of Play was overall nice and interesting, but I think it was a bit shallow. There was no real requirements on the reader having any previous knowledge, so no chapter could explore its topic in a very effective way. Just to give an example the chapter on probabilities in games doesn't reach deeper than looking at the oddsd of rolling various combinations with 2d6 (but it did recommend a book on Gambling statistics that I have bought and are now trying to read and that book REALLY go into a lot of interesting details (and heavy maths I barely can follow)). Also Rules of Play manages to NEVER say anything really bad about any game. Any shitty game at all they mention is only explored from a positive angle. Where are all the negative examples? It would have been much more useful if each chapter contained both examples of very good and very bad games.

Theory of Fun was a good and inspiring read. I should probably reread some parts to better absorb them.

[pelle]

That wiki article on Single-Player mapping was a really good read and seems practically useful beyond FPS levels. I will save that as a checklist for future projects (most likely not anything like and FPS level, but most likely single-player).

[Alistair Aitcheson]

Sirlin.net Really good sign for sound information on the pros and cons of game design and competitive game playing.

Seconded. I love the way he goes into all the little details of how the games he plays works. His book (which can be read online for free) is also a great example of how the strategies and concepts behind video games match up with those of games like chess and real-world warfare. Keep an eye on his blog, as he tends to reference other interesting designers who make some fantastic points. And play Kongai. I love that game

I also loved A Theory of Fun, as it introduced me to thinking of games as learning experiences. How we enjoy them because our brain responds positively to learning. I really love that idea, and I try to make use of it in all the games I design.

Oh my god I'm going to be digging into these links for weeks  

Me too!

[Michael Todd]

RevRants are a good youtube series about various design aspects.




And Jen's blog posting about RTS design is good:
http://www.oxeyegames.com/game-play-mechanics-of-real-time-strategy-games/

This is a good talk by will wright on various game design theory stuff:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5534080568776365031#

[simono]

on the book front i'd recommend:

  * The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses by J.Schell (this is absolutely awesome buy it now!)
     * http://g4tv.com/videos/44277/DICE-2010-Design-Outside-the-Box-Presentation/ (great talk by the above author)
     * http://www.critical-distance.com/2010/04/21/jesse-schell-design-outside-the-box/ (discussion of the talk)
  * A Theory of Fun for Game Design by R.Koster
  * Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals by K.Salen