The Game Designer's Playlist ― Innovative Games Every Game Designer Needs to Play

Game designers: learn from the masters! In The Game Designers Playlist, top game design instructor Zach Hiwiller presents over 80 of the world’s best games: how they work, what makes them so great, and how to apply their lessons in your own games. Whether you’re an aspiring game designer or you’re already working in the industry, you’ll gain powerful knowledge and inspiration for getting better at everything you do. Hiwiller takes you far beyond the most popular games, uncovering gems that reveal indispensable insights about game mechanics and playability. He ranges far and wide, illuminating lessons from console and mobile games, classic board games, and beyond. Throughout, he connects game design to current research in areas ranging from psychology and media studies to philosophy. Along the way, you’ll discover how games can teach about decision-making, randomness, play, winning and losing, originality and innovation, and the wider world. Hiwiller doesn’t just present a new canon of classic games: he helps you build on their greatness to create legendary games of your own.

Zack Hiwiller is a game designer, educator, and author living in Orlando, Florida. He has been a game designer for large publishers and small, independent developers. He is also a department chair in the game design program at Full Sail University and is the author of Players Making Decisions: Game Design Essentials and the Art of Understanding Your Players (New Riders, 2016).