This week’s set of books will help you learn more about roguelike games, storytelling in games, the secrets behind graphic adventures, and more.
This week’s set of books will help you learn more about roguelike games, storytelling in games, the secrets behind graphic adventures, and more.
@Play: Exploring Roguelike Games
For over nine years the column @Play has covered the genre of roguelike computer games, on indie blog GameSetWatch and beyond. This book features the best articles from its run, along with a collection of new pieces.
Inside:
- Playing tips and strategy for newcomers to the genre
- Core roguelikes Rogue, Angband, NetHack, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, ADOM and Brogue
- The “lost roguelikes” Super Rogue and XRogue, and the early RPG dnd for PLATO systems
- The Japanese console roguelikes Taloon’s Mystery Dungeon and Shiren the Wanderer
- Lesser-known but extremely interesting games like Larn, DoomRL, HyperRogue, Incursion and Dungeon Hack
- “Rogue-ish” games that blur the edges of the genre like Strange Adventures in Infinite Space, Spelunky, HyperRogue, ToeJam & Earl, Defense of the Oasis, Out There and Zelda Randomizer
- Interviews with developers Keith Burgun (100 Rogues and Auro) and Rodain Joubert (Desktop Dungeons), and Robin Bandy, maintainer of the long-running devnull public NetHack tournament
- Design issues of interest to developers and enthusiasts
A Mind Forever Voyaging: A History of Storytelling in Video Games
“An engaging and entertaining read for veteran gamers and curious newcomers alike, A Mind Forever Voyaging traces the evolution of interactive video games by examining 13 landmark titles that challenged convention and captured players’ imaginations worldwide.” Alternative gaming blogger Dylan Holmes discusses games that tell stories in innovative and fascinating ways and shows the opportunities and challenges that occur when players are given the ability to direct how a story plays out.
Verb/ose: A Personal Analysis of the Graphic Adventure Game Genre
The adventure game genre goes back to the late 1970s, but is the secret behind its success? Verbose: A Personal Analysis of the Graphic Adventure Game Genre is a critical essay of the various conventions of the genre that discusses interfaces, puzzle designs, and narrative devices. “Along with this is a particular focus on classic adventure games from the likes of Sierra (King’s Quest), LucasArts (Monkey Island) and Cyan (Myst), as well as how they apply to more modern games like Thimbleweed Park.”
The Kojima Code
This book discusses the lonely personal life, daring career, and radical game design philosophy of one of the most enigmatic, polarizing, and devious minds in entertainment. “Only by understanding the man and the corporate world he struggled with can we illuminate the unbelievable story behind one of the greatest works of postmodern art ever made. It’s a story that has never been detailed, despite an entire generation of gamers begging for answers.”
Red to Black: The Making of Rogue Legacy
Based on interviews with the development team, From Red to Black: The Making of Rogue Legacy discusses the story of two brothers who poured blood, sweat, tears, and exactly $14,878 into the game that would define their future.