To create a great video game, you must start with a solid game design: A well-designed game is easier to build, more entertaining, and has a better chance of succeeding in the marketplace. Here to teach you the essential skills of player-centric game design is one of the industry’s leading authorities, who offers a first-hand look into the process, from initial concept to final tuning. Now in its second edition, this updated classic reference by Ernest Adams offers a complete and practical approach to game design, and includes material on concept development, gameplay design, core mechanics, user interfaces, storytelling, and balancing. In an easy-to-follow approach, Adams analyzes the specific design challenges of all the major game genres and shows you how to apply the principles of game design to each one. You’ll learn how to: Define the challenges and actions at the heart of the gameplay. Write a high-concept document, a treatment, and a full design script. Understand the essentials of user interface design and how to define a game’s look and feel. Design for a variety of input mechanisms, including the Wii controller and multi-touch iPhone. Construct a game’s core mechanics and flow of resources (money, points, ammunition, and more). Develop appealing stories, game characters, and worlds that players will want to visit, including persistent worlds. Work on design problems with engaging end-of-chapter exercises, design worksheets, and case studies. Make your game accessible to broader audiences such as children, adult women, people with disabilities, and casual players. “Ernest Adams provides encyclopedic coverage of process and design issues for every aspect of game design, expressed as practical lessons that can be immediately applied to a design in-progress. He offers the best framework I’ve seen for thinking about the relationships between core mechanics, gameplay, and player—one that I’ve found useful for both teaching and research.” — Michael Mateas, University of California at Santa Cruz, co-creator of Façade
When making games for kids, it’s tempting to simply wing-it on the design. We were all children once, right? The reality is that adults are far removed from the cognitive changes and the motor skill challenges that are the hallmark of the developing child. Designing Games for Children, helps you understand these developmental needs of children and how to effectively apply them to games. Whether you’re a seasoned game designer, a children's media professional, or an instructor teaching the next generation of game designers, Designing Games for Children is the first book dedicated to service the specific needs of children's game designers. This is a hands-on manual of child psychology as it relates to game design and the common challenges designers face. Designing Games for Children is the definitive, comprehensive guide to making great games for kids, featuring: Guidelines and recommendations divided by the most common target audiences – babies and toddlers (0-2), preschoolers (3-5), early elementary students (6-8), and tweens (9-12). Approachable and actionable breakdown of child developmental psychology, including cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development, as it applies to game design Game design insights and guidelines for all aspects of game production, from ideation to marketing
This book is a way of sharing insights empirically gathered, over decades of interactive media development, by the author and other children’s designers. Included is as much emerging theory as possible in order to provide background for practical and technical aspects of design while still keeping the information accessible. The author's intent for this book is not to create an academic treatise but to furnish an insightful and practical manual for the next generation of children’s interactive media and game designers. Key Features Provides practical detailing of how children's developmental needs and capabilities translate to specific design elements of a piece of media Serves as an invaluable reference for anyone who is designing interactive games for children (or adults) Detailed discussions of how children learn and how they play Provides lots of examples and design tips on how to design content that will be appealing and effective for various age ranges Accessible approach, based on years of successful creative business experience, covers basics across the gamut from developmental needs and learning theories to formats, colors, and sounds
Including eight pages of color and a case study that takes users through the development of a multimedia environment, this book shows users how to create vibrant multimedia environments to enhance a child's educational and play experience. It offers a historical overview of children's software development, explores the latest technologies, and then develops and implements examples.
This Tic Tac Toe Game book will provide hours of fun for kids and adults. With five game boards per page, it won't take long before you will lose track of time and enjoy the hours of fun playing tic tac toe provides. A great gift for children and grown ups alike. Book contains: * 495 tic tac toe games * 5 puzzles per page * Book Dimensions:6"x9" This book will provide hours of fun competition. Tic-Tac-Toe is a classic strategy game suitable for young children to adults. It's easy to learn and fun to play.
This Tic Tac Toe Game book will provide hours of fun for kids and adults. With five game boards per page, it won't take long before you will lose track of time and enjoy the hours of fun playing tic tac toe provides. A great gift for children and grown ups alike. Book contains: * 495 tic tac toe games * 5 puzzles per page * Book Dimensions:6"x9" This book will provide hours of fun competition. Tic-Tac-Toe is a classic strategy game suitable for young children to adults. It's easy to learn and fun to play. Tic Tac Toe by [author]
Each vol. 1906/1908-1906/1910 and 1907/1911-1912/1916 contains tables of data for each year arranged in parallel columns for comparison purposes. Vol 1906/1908 also contains property records and photographs of all New York's public schools; called the "Real estate section" in subsequent vols. 1911/1915 and includes only data for instance where changes or new acquistitions occurred since the previous report. Reports 1911/1915- include "Pictorial section" containing photographic illustrations of various school.activities.
Starting with a sound explanation of the structure and meaning of a play environment, this book: Develops a new model for understanding the essential elements for making a stimulating and healthy play environment; Features beautifully illustrated examples of indoor and outdoor play areas.
An essential guide that focuses on play therapy in schools This landmark reference presents an A-to-Z guide for using play therapy in preschool and elementary school settings to help children prevent or resolve psychosocial difÞculties. Coedited by three experts in the Þeld, School-Based Play Therapy offers school counselors, psychologists, teachers, and social workers the latest techniques to help them develop their own creative approaches to utilizing the therapeutic powers of play. Beginning with an overview that addresses multicultural concerns, a description of play instruments, and observational techniques, this practice-oriented book explains how to implement play therapy in schools, with solid advice on gaining acceptance from other staff members and administration. Covering both individual and group play therapy, it clearly describes proven approaches such as child-centered play therapy, Theraplay, sandplay, and art exercises. The thorough treatment of the subject combined with the contributors’ incomparable expertise makes this an essential volume for all mental health professionals working in schools. Describes play therapy approaches for special populations, such as sexually abused children, ADD/ADHD, children of divorce, and others Includes innovative play therapy programs and tools Outlines how to construct portable play kits and set up a play space