Synopses & Reviews
Learn to design games for tablets from a renowned game designer!Eager to start designing games for tablets but not sure where to start? Look no further! Gaming guru Scott Rogers has his finger on the pulse of tablet game design and is willing to impart his wisdom and secrets for designing exciting and successful games. As the creator of such venerable games as God of War, the SpongeBob Squarepants series, and Pac-Man World, to name a few, Rogers writes from personal experience and in this unique book, he hands you the tools to create your own tablet games for the iPad, Android tablets, Nintendo DS, and other touchscreen systems.
- Covers the entire tablet game creation process, placing a special focus on the intricacies and pitfalls of touch-screen game design
- Explores the details and features of tablet game systems and shows you how to develop marketable ideas as well as market your own games
- Offers an honest take on what perils and pitfalls await you during a game's pre-production, production, and post-production stages
- Features interviews with established tablet game developers that serve to inspire you as you start to make your own tablet game design
Swipe This! presents you with an in-depth analysis of popular tablet games and delivers a road map for getting started with tablet game design.
About the Author
Once upon a time, Scott Rogers played video games, Dungeons and Dragons and drew comic books without realizing he could do these things for a living. After being "discovered" in a coffee shop and realizing game designers have more fun, Scott helped design video games including Pac-Man World, the Maximo series, God of War, Darksiders and the Drawn To Life series. A lecture about his two favorite things – level design and Disneyland – led to writing "Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design," lecturing at the prestigious Interactive Media Division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and employment with the Walt Disney Imagineering R&D team. Scott is currently living happily ever after in Thousand Oaks, CA with his family, action figure collection and an iPad full of games.
Table of Contents
Swipe This Book! 1
Some Possible Reasons You Picked Up Swipe This! 2
CHAPTER 1 Hardware Wars 13
DEVELOPER INTERVIEW 1 Paul O'Connor 29
CHAPTER 2 Clown-On-A-Unicycle 33
GAME DESIGN SPOTLIGHT 1 Fruit Ninja HD 53
CHAPTER 3 Finger Fu! 57
DEVELOPER INTERVIEW 2 Andy Ashcraft 81
CHAPTER 4 GenreBusters 85
GAME DESIGN SPOTLIGHT 2 Helsing's Fire 107
CHAPTER 5 Puzzlings 111
DEVELOPER INTERVIEW 3 Erin Reynolds 137
CHAPTER 6 Arcade Crazy 141
GAME DESIGN SPOTLIGHT 3 Where's My Water? 171
CHAPTER 7 Action Guy 175
DEVELOPER INTERVIEW 4 Blade Olsen 205
CHAPTER 8 DoodleCat 209
GAME DESIGN SPOTLIGHT 4 Jetpack Joyride 223
CHAPTER 9 Casual Fryday 227
DEVELOPER INTERVIEW 5 Sam Rosenthal 257
CHAPTER 10 The New Genres 261
GAME DESIGN SPOTLIGHT 5 No, Human 281
DEVELOPER INTERVIEW 6 Andy Reeves 285
CHAPTER 11 Make Your Own Star Wars 289
GAME DESIGN SPOTLIGHT 6 Angry Birds 323
APPPENDIX 1 The Class of 2008 329
APPPENDIX 2 Touchscreen Template 337
APPPENDIX 3 Gameplay Storyboarding Template 339
APPPENDIX 4 The Game Designer's Checklist 341
Afterword 343
Index 345