Resources
Below is a curated collection of resources for Narrative Designers, Game Writers, and Design Thinkers. It contains literature that I found useful in developing myself as a Designer. The collection contains academic and non-fiction titles. The collection is continuously updated.
Narrative Design
- Bateman, C. (2021). Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames. Bloomsbury Academic; 2nd Edition.
- Block, B. (2021). The Visual Story: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV and Digital Media, Focal Pr.; 3rd Edition.
- Bortolussi, M., & Dixon, P. (2002). Pyschonarratology: Foundations of the Empirical Study of Literary Response. Cambridge University Press.
- Brusk, J., & Björk, S. (2009). Gameplay Dialogue Patterns for Game Dialogues. Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice, Theory. Proceedings of DiGRA (Digital Games Research Association), 1-8.
- Bryant, R.D., & Giglio, K. (2015). Slay the Dragon: Writing Great Video Games. Michael Wiese Productions.
- Engström, H., Brusk, J., & Erlandsson, P. (2018). Prototyping Tools for Game Writers.Comput Game J, 7, 153-172.
- Lebowitz, J., & Klung, C. (2011). Interactive Storytelling for Video Games: A Player-Centered Approach to Creating Memorable Characters and Stories. Routledge; 1st Edition.
- Wenz, K. (2010). Narrative Logics of Digital Games. In S. Günzel, M. Liebe & D. Mersch (Eds.), Logic and Structure of the Computer Game (pp. 146-164). Postdam University Press.
Writing
- Field, S. (2005). Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. Delta; Revised Edition.
- McKee, R. (2015). Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen. (Audiobook link.)
- Poe, E. A. (1846/2023). The Philosophy of Composition. Revelation Press.
- Provost, G. (2019). 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing; Proven Professional Techniques for Writing with Style and Power. Berkley.
- Pullman, P. (2019). Demon Voices: On Stories and Storytelling. Vintage; Reprint Edition.
- Snyder, B. (2005). Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You'll Ever Need. Michael Wiese Productions.
- Strunk Jr. W., & White, E.B. (1999). The Elements of Style. Pearson; 4th Edition.
Game Design
- Cooke, L., Dusenberry, L., & Robinson, J. (2020). Game Design Thinking: Wicked Problems, Sufficient Solutions, and the Possibility Space of Games. Technical Communication Quarterly, 29(4), 327-340.
- Dishon, G., & Kafai, Y. B. (2020). Making More of Games: Cultivating Perspective-Taking Through Game Design. Computers & Education, 148, 1-13.
- Jesse, S. (2019). The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. Taylor & Francis Group Limited; 3rd Edition.
- Sotamaa, O., & Švelch, J. (Eds.) (2021). Game Production Studies. Amsterdam University Press
Design (General)
- Buchanan, I. (1992). Wicked Problems in Design Thinking. Design Issues, 8(2), 5-21.
- Digital Society School. (n.d.). Design Method Toolkit. https://toolkits.dss.cloud/design/.
- DiSalvo, C. (2012). Adversarial Design. The MIT Press.
- Dune, A., & Raby, F. (2013). Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. The MIT Press.
- Friedman, B., Kahn, P., & Borning, A. (2002). Value Sensitive Design: Theory and Methods. University of Washington Technical Report, 02-12.
- Holtzblatt, K., Burns Wendell, J., & Wood, S. (2005). Rapid Contextual Design: A How-To Guide to Key Techniques for User-Centered Design. Morgan Kaufmann.
- Lupton, E. (2017). Design Is Storytelling. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; 1st Edition.
- Köppen, E., & Meinel, C. (2015). Empathy via Design Thinking: Creation of Sense and Knowledge. In H. Plattner, C. Meiner, L. Leifer (Eds.), Design Thinking Research: Building Innovations. Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
- Oudshoorn, N., & Pinch, T. (Eds.). (2003). How Users Matter (Inside Technology): The Co-construction of Technologies and Users. The MIT Press.
- Right, C., & James, J. (Eds.) (2007). User-Centered Design Stories: Real-World UCD Case Studies. Morgan Kaufmann.
- Tatum, J. S. (2004). The Challenge of Responsible Design. Design Issues, 20(3), 66-80.
- The Interaction Design Foundation. (n.d.). 5 Stages in the Design Thinking Project. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/5-stages-in-the-design-thinking-process.
- Y., J. W. (2003). A Technique for Producing Ideas.