Game Feel, the book

August 26 2013
by

game-feel

I recently discovered the book Game Feel by Steve Swink, and I really wish I stumbled on this earlier. It depicts the “feel” of game design, but so much of it is applicable to general interaction design in my opinion. It really digs into the feedback loops, processes and mechanisms that underpin the sense of control, in turn leading invariably to satisfaction, enjoyment or delight of a (game) experience. I don’t consider myself super knowledgeable in the game design domain, so I can’t really comment on the game design perspective, but from a UI + physical hardware control perspective, this book is very rich and absolutely relevant.

I truly wish I had this book coming into my first year of IxD at school. And it’s not exactly new, 2008, so 6 years old! I’m curious to know if some of you have read it already, if so please share your impression/comments…

Game Feel: A Game Designer’s Guide to Virtual Sensation
http://www.game-feel.com

from: Book, Computer Graphics, Education, Game, Game Design, Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Interface, Programming, Stop Motion, Tangible, Technology, User Experience

4 Comments leave a new comment!
August 26 2013
Regi permalink

For an intro to game mechanics – Game Frame

August 27 2013
Adam Henriksson permalink

I have seen this book before, but I do not buy a books about games unless highly recommended. There are just too many of them and to be honest, most are rubbish. The late interest in ‘gamification’ in design related practices is just saturating the market. I will not say too much of what I think about that, because I think it can get into discussions that are hard to have. Sadly, these conference, books and articles are often evidence to that people like to deal in ultimate truths. “It this gamification or not?”

Earlier this year Blow commented on this in a set of tweets:

I passed a sign for the upcoming Gamification Summit today, and it made me wonder: Do purported gamification experts somehow not see how thoroughly gamified society has been for thousands of years? Money is gamification, for example. Military rank is gamification. Catholicism (among many others) is gamification. etc, etc. America is basically all gamification all the time, so I am not sure why we need a conference to come up with more.

It would be interested to what the book is about. I might buy it.

August 27 2013
Camille Moussette permalink

It might be a good idea to have the library get a copy or the IxD workshop, so you (and others) can check it out without spending a krona.

I think the book has value outside the game world. It dives into the underpinning of button pushing and feedback, so things feel sluggish or not, responsive or not, and the likes. It also uses the “ADSR” (Attack Decay Sustain Release) system to depict response qualities to user inputs, a way that is easy to visualize and make sense.

August 28 2013
Adam Henriksson permalink

Seems interesting. So more about the direct manipulation, interaction and less the business of getting and keeping users?

Leave A New Comment

Captcha Challenge * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.