The books behind the guides.

An exploration of the mathematics behind games, classifying them into games of chance, combinatorial games, and strategic games, and providing tools from probability theory, combinatorics, and game theory to analyze and optimize play.

A collection of essays from prominent designers and academics exploring the art, process, and analysis of creating compelling tabletop analog games.

A comprehensive guide for game designers on the principles, mathematics, and practical techniques for achieving and maintaining game balance to create fair and engaging player experiences.

An exercise-driven, non-technical guide to the art of game design that teaches aspiring creators how to ideate, prototype, and refine innovative games through a playcentric, iterative process.

An authoritative historical and analytical survey of traditional board games from around the world, classifying them into distinct families based on their core mechanics and objectives.

A veteran-designer anthology that defines what tabletop and roleplaying game design actually is and teaches the craft, adventure-building, and business skills needed to create games that captivate players.

A comprehensive guide to learning and playing 100 of the world's best-loved card games, complete with clear rules, examples of play, and strategic advice for players of all levels.

Through a Socratic dialogue with a dying grasshopper, this book defines game-playing as the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles and argues that this activity is the supreme human good and the ideal of existence in a utopian society.

A practical, insider guide showing aspiring board game designers exactly how to find the right publisher, pitch effectively, and negotiate a fair contract to get their game signed and published.

Three legendary game designers provide a formal framework and vocabulary for analyzing the intrinsic characteristics of games to understand how they work and what makes them enjoyable.

A comprehensive, illustrated guide teaching the rules, strategies, and history of over 250 of the world's best card games, from family favorites to advanced classics like Poker and Bridge, for players of all levels.

An insider's guide to inventing, developing, and selling board, card, and hobby games, blending industry history, expert interviews, and practical step-by-step advice for aspiring game designers.

Games are fundamentally teaching machines, and 'fun' is the pleasurable feedback the brain gives us as we learn and master the patterns they present.

An encyclopedia of tabletop game mechanisms that provides a shared vocabulary and a catalog of ingredients for game designers to create better, more innovative player experiences.

A collection of essays by veteran board and card game designers that teaches how to conceive, design, develop, prototype, and publish tabletop games that players actually love.

A veteran crowdfunder argues that the surest path to funding success is to stop making campaigns about you and instead build a community by putting your backers first.

A foundational text that establishes a critical vocabulary and unified theoretical framework for game design, analyzing all types of games through the schemas of Rules, Play, and Culture to empower designers to create meaningful play.

A practical field guide revealing the many overlooked careers in the board game industry beyond game design, and how to break into them using your existing skills.

Games require uncertainty to hold our interest, and the struggle to master uncertainty—in its many distinct forms—is the central appeal of games and the key lever every designer must consciously wield.

A comprehensive guide to game design that teaches designers to create powerful player experiences by viewing their work from over one hundred different perspectives, or 'lenses'.