Whether you are a middle school student making your first game for the Games For Change Student Challenge, a high school student competing in the National STEM Video Game Challenge, or an adult interested in participating in an upcoming Ludum Dare event: below are some great books on game design to help you get started.

All titles are available from the New York Public Library or as a free download licensed under Creative Commons. If you have additional suggestions of books not listed below, please feel free to add them in the comments. The idea is that this will be an organic, evolving list of game-making resources available through the public library.

Want to play and discuss games with other students, librarians, teachers and game enthusiasts? Join us for one of the upcoming NYPLarcade events at Jefferson Market Library this spring.

Children

Adventures in Minecraft
by Martin O’Hanlon & David Whale
E-book

Help Your Kids With Computer Coding: A Unique Step-by-Step Visual Guide, From Binary Code to Building Games
by Carol Vorderman, Jon Woodcock, Sean McManus, Craig Steele, Claire Quigley, Daniel McCafferty
E-book

Level Up!: The Guide to Great Video Game Design
by Scott Rogers
E-book

Secret Coders
by Gene Luen Yang & Mike Holmes (J GN FIC YANG)
Print

Teach Your Kids to Code: A Parent-Friendly Guide to Python Programming
by Bryson Payne (J 005.13 P)
Print

Video Games: Design and Code Your Own Adventure
by Kathy Ceceri (J 794.8 C)
Print

Teen

Careers for Tech Girls in Video Game Development
by Laura La Bella (YA 794.8 L)
Print

Game Art: Art From 40 Video Games and Interviews With Their Creators
by Matt Sainsbury (YA 794.8)
Print

Learn to Program With Scratch: A Visual Introduction to Programming With Games , Art, Science, and Math
by Majed Marji (YA 794.815 M)
Print

Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus “Notch” Persson and the Game That Changed Everything
by Daniel Goldberg and Linus Larsson (YA 794.8 G)
Print | E-book

Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun
by Joshua Glenn & Elizabeth Foy Larsen (YA 790 U)
Print

Adult

Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
by Jesse Schell (794.8153 S)
Print

Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter
by Tom Bissell (794.8 B)
Print | E-book | Digital Audio

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (155.2 C)
Print | E-book

Game Design Reader
by Kate Sailen & Eric Zimmerman (794.8153 G)
Print

Game Usability: Advice From the Experts for Advancing the Player Experience
by Katherine Isbister and Noah Schaffer (794.8152 I)
Print

Hamlet on the Holodeck
by Janet H. Murray (809 M)
Print

Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture
by Johan Huizinga (901 H)
Print | E-book

How to do Things With Video Games
by Ian Bogost (793.932 B)
Print | E-book

Reality is Broken
by Jane McGonigal (306.487 M)
Print | E-book | Audio

Rise of the Videogame Zinesters
by Anna Anthropy (794.8 A)
Print

Rules of Play
by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman (794.8152 S)
Print

Unbored Games
by Joshaua Glenn & Elizabeth Foy Larsen (790.1 G)
Print

Free Books Available Online

The Design of Everyday Things
by Donald A. Norman
archive.org

DOOM: SCARYDARKFAST
by Dan Pinchbeck
digitalculturebooks

Silent Hill: The Terror Engine
by Bernard Perron
digitalculturebooks

Tempest: Geometries of Play
by Judd E. Ruggill and Ken S. McAllister
digitalculturebooks

Trigger Happy: Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution
by Steven Poole
archive.org | NYPL ebook