Here is a list of the best Game Development books, some I have read myself, some that I did research on, and all have great reviews!
- The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition (2014)
- Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design (2014)
- Foundations of Game Engine Development, Volume 1: Mathematics (2016)
- Game Development Essentials: An Introduction (2011)
- Game Programming Patterns (2014)
- Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development: From Concept to Playable Game with Unity and C# (2nd Edition) (2017)
- Foundations of Game Engine Development, Volume 2: Rendering (2019)
- Unity 2018 Game Development in 24 Hours, Sams Teach Yourself (3rd Edition) (2018)
- Agile Game Development with Scrum (Addison-Wesley Signature Series (Cohn)) (2010)
- Game Programming in C++: Creating 3D Games: Creating 3D Games (Game Design) (2018)
- Hands-On Game Development Patterns with Unity 2019: Create engaging games by using industry-standard design patterns with C# (2019)
- Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made (2017)
- Indie Games: From Dream to Delivery (2018)
The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Second Edition (2014)
Good game design happens when you view your game from as many perspectives as possible. Written by one of the world’s top game designers, presents 100+ sets of questions, or different lenses, for viewing a game’s design, encompassing diverse fields such as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, puzzle design, and anthropology.
Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design (2014)
If you want to design and build cutting-edge video games but aren’t sure where to start, then the SECOND EDITION of the acclaimed Level Up! is for you! Written by leading video game expert Scott Rogers, who has designed the hits Pac Man World, Maximo and SpongeBob Squarepants, this updated edition provides clear and well-thought out examples that forgo theoretical gobbledygook with charmingly illustrated concepts and solutions based on years of professional experience.
Foundations of Game Engine Development, Volume 1: Mathematics (2016)
The first volume of Foundations of Game Engine Development discusses the mathematics needed by engineers who work on games or other types of virtual simulations. The book begins with conventional treatments of topics such as linear algebra, transforms, and geometry.
Game Development Essentials: An Introduction (2011)
GAME DEVELOPMENT ESSENTIALS: AN INTRODUCTION, 3E is an authoritative, industry-driven introduction to the world of game development, with updates that keep readers current and well-prepared for a successful career in the field. This book not only examines content creation and the concepts behind development, but it also give readers a background on the evolution of game development and how it has become what it is today.
Game Programming Patterns (2014)
The biggest challenge facing many game programmers is completing their game. Most game projects fizzle out, overwhelmed by the complexity of their own code. Game Programming Patterns tackles that exact problem. Based on years of experience in shipped AAA titles, this book collects proven patterns to untangle and optimize your game, organized as independent recipes so you can pick just the patterns you need.
Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development: From Concept to Playable Game with Unity and C# (2nd Edition) (2017)
If you want to design and develop games, there’s no substitute for strong hands-on experience with modern techniques and tools—and that is exactly what this book provides. The first edition was frequently the top-selling game design book on Amazon, with more than 70% of the reviews being 5 stars.
Foundations of Game Engine Development, Volume 2: Rendering (2019)
This second volume in the Foundations of Game Engine Development series explores the vast subject of real-time rendering in modern game engines. The book provides a detailed introduction to color science, world structure, projections, shaders, lighting, shadows, fog, and visibility methods. This is followed by extensive discussions of a variety of advanced rendering techniques that include volumetric effects, atmospheric shadowing, ambient occlusion, motion blur, and isosurface extraction.
Unity 2018 Game Development in 24 Hours, Sams Teach Yourself (3rd Edition) (2018)
In just 24 lessons of one hour or less, Sams Teach Yourself Unity Game Development in 24 Hours will help you master the Unity 2018 game engine at the heart of Ori and the Blind Forest, Firewatch, Monument Valley, and many other sizzling-hot games! This book’s straightforward, step-by-step approach teaches you everything from the absolute basics through sophisticated game physics, animation, and mobile device deploymenttechniques.
Agile Game Development with Scrum (Addison-Wesley Signature Series (Cohn)) (2010)
Game development is in crisis—facing bloated budgets, impossible schedules, unmanageable complexity, and death march overtime. It’s no wonder so many development studios are struggling to survive. Fortunately, there is a solution. Scrum and Agile methods are already revolutionizing development outside the game industry.
Game Programming in C++: Creating 3D Games: Creating 3D Games (Game Design) (2018)
C++ remains the key language at many leading game development studios. Since it’s used throughout their enormous code bases, studios use it to maintain and improve their games, and look for it constantly when hiring new developers. is a practical, hands-on approach to programming 3D video games in C++. Modeled on Sanjay Madhav’s game programming courses at USC, it’s fun, easy, practical, hands-on, and complete.
Hands-On Game Development Patterns with Unity 2019: Create engaging games by using industry-standard design patterns with C# (2019)
Traditional building blocks of a robust architecture, such as design patterns, cannot be applied in Unity without being adapted to the Engine’s unique way of doing things. We will review design patterns that are currently used by professional game programmers in indie, mobile, and AAA studios. We will also examine the infamous anti-patterns.
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made (2017)
NATIONAL BESTSELLERDeveloping video games—hero’s journey or fool’s errand? The creative and technical logistics that go into building today’s hottest games can be more harrowing and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius.
Indie Games: From Dream to Delivery (2018)
Indie Games: from Dream to Delivery helps you do just that, by leading you through a guided conversation with yourself.Section by section, you’ll record your answers to carefully chosen questions. Then we’ll use your unique personal responses to build the customized roadmap you need to turn your indie game into reality.Techniques to use, traps to avoid, terminology to understand. And how to fit it all into your life without damaging your relationships or your future.Never started a business?
Best Game Development Books that Should be on Your Bookshelf
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some game development books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
2D Game Development with Unity
Author(s): Franz Lanzinger
ID: 2863062, Publisher: CRC Press, Year: 2021, Size: 49 Mb, Format: pdf
Unity ® Virtual Reality Development: No C# Programming Skills Required: Develop Immersive VR Experiences, Games, Apps & VR Frameworks using Unity 3D & VRTK, without the need for C# programming
Author(s): Coutinho, Chris
ID: 2972441, Publisher: , Year: 2021, Size: 2 Mb, Format: epub
When VR Serious Games Meet Special Needs Education: Research, Development and Their Applications
Author(s): Yiyu Cai, Qi Cao
ID: 2982907, Publisher: Springer, Year: 2021, Size: 12 Mb, Format: pdf
Please note that this booklist is not absolute. Some books are absolutely hot items according to Los Angeles Times, others are drafted by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant books you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.