Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games Book

A very comprehensive discussion of contemporary game design practice. This book provides a theoretical foundation for game design, and a description of the position of the game designer in today's industry, but where it really shines is its structured, step-by-step description of how to design a game. I was pleasantly surprised by the author's emphasis on early prototyping, iteration and playtesting, playtesting, playtesting. Since owning this, it has become the first thing I recommend to my students to look at when they're having issues with their process. For myself it's been a good way to review my own approach. The only reason it's not getting top marks is because in some areas, I found it too shallow, even for a novice audience.