
A Playful Production Process
For Game Designers (and Everyone)
Overview
Author(s)
Praise
Summary
How to achieve a happier and healthier game design process by connecting the creative aspects of game design with techniques for effective project management.
This book teaches game designers, aspiring game developers, and game design students how to take a digital game project from start to finish—from conceptualizing and designing to building, playtesting, and iterating—while avoiding the uncontrolled overwork known among developers as “crunch.” Written by a legendary game designer, A Playful Production Process outlines a process that connects the creative aspects of game design with proven techniques for effective project management. The book outlines four project phases—ideation, preproduction, full production, and post-production—that give designers and developers the milestones they need to advance from the first glimmerings of an idea to a finished game.
The book covers each of the project phases in turn, proceeding from ideation through post-production. Most chapters discuss a subject related to making a game in a structured way, describing the activities that take place in each phase, the milestones that mark the beginning and end of each phase, and the deliverables due at each milestone; others cover processes used to communicate, collaborate, and manage the project. This hands-on “playcentric” approach will help designers conceptualize and create future projects with greater efficiency, more creativity, and less pain.
Instructor Resources
Downloadable instructor resources available for this title: slides, suggested assignments, lesson plans and more.
Hardcover
$45.00 X ISBN: 9780262045513 408 pp. | 7 in x 10 in 66 b&w illus.Endorsements
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“Lemarchand brilliantly lays out an alternative to the crunch and chaos so common in game development today. A must-read!”
Mark Cerny
Lead Architect of PlayStation 4 and 5
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“By focusing on the creative experience and the joy of making things collaboratively as a team, Lemarchand shows his readers how to survive in the game industry and come out with your creativity and inspiration intact!”
Tim Schafer
Studio Head, Double Fine Productions
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“Lemarchand fuses the best of AAA game development practices with innovative, inclusive, and human-centered approaches from academia, art, and indie games. The result is as close as I've seen to the elusive 'best practices' for game development.”
Tracy Fullerton
Director, USC Game Innovation Lab