The Game Design Resource Guide
I rounded up a list of references for some of the most useful resources when designing games. This includes game design references, books on Game Design, game engines to use, and some general inspiration.
Design Resources
Engines
Unity — your all around engine, and my preferred choice
Unreal Engine 4 — your all around engine with a great visual scripting system called Blueprints
Godot — I’ve never used Godot but I hear good things
Gamemaker — this was the first engine I ever made a game with, it was a 2D game, but that was back in 2014
Construct3 — every time I want to make a web game I choose Construct due to the easy to use code blocks and wide variety of plugins from the community
Phaser JS — Great for web games, but ultimately you need to know javascript
Game Design and Critique Channels
Reading
A good one on general product and team advice.
I really love this read because it covers community, identity, and design of systems by interviewing players of massive multiplayer online games.
Covers integrity in virtual worlds by outlining the darker history of some online communities back when it was all text-based.
A tale on the history of two companies targeted at similar player bases. I learned a lot about marketing and why good character design is really important.
I’m only listing this because it’s the first book I ever bought for game dev in 2014. It’s going to be very out of date, but I’d recommend getting something similar.
Good info on the psychology of play with interviews from game developers.
Why gaming is good for you and how to gamify mundane things, like chores!
How to design mechanics that feel great.
Super in-depth read on game design, playtesting, and everything else to do with gamedev. Quite a slog to read but good for reference.
