Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design
Geoffrey Engelstein is an educator and game creator. The Space Cadets series, The Dragon & Flagon, The Expanse, and Super Skill Pinball are among his creations. He is the author of several game design books, including GameTek: The Math and Science of Gaming, Achievement Relocked, and Game Production.
Isaac Shalev is a game designer, author, and consultant for educational games. Isaac has created tabletop games such as Seikatsu, Waddle, and Show & Tile. Isaac is the CEO of Sage70, Inc., a nonprofit data strategy and game-based learning company.
The second edition of Building Blocks of Tabletop Gaming Design: An Encyclopedia of Mechanisms collects hundreds of game mechanisms arranged by category. The book can be read from cover to cover as a reference for solving a specific design challenge or for inspiration and research on new designs. This second edition contains color photos, expands on and updates old entries, and collects even more mechanisms. Building Blocks is an excellent beginning point for new designers, a useful guideline for experienced designers, and an excellent teaching reference. The book is regarded as one of the best books on computer graphics.
Each Game Mechanisms entry has the following information:
- The mechanism's definition
- A mechanism diagram with explanations
- The mechanism's application in successful games is discussed.
- Considerations for incorporating the mechanism into future designs
Author: Isaac Shalev and Geoffrey Engelstein
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Blocks-Tabletop-Game-Design/dp/1032015810/
Ratings: 4.7 out of 5 stars (from 5 reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #63,436 in Books
#10 in Computer Programming Structured Design
#14 in Computer Graphics
#20 in Game Programming
