Game Design Deep Dive
About the Book Series
Game Design Deep Dive is a series meant to examine the history and growth of game genres and to explore best practices for designing them going forward. Understanding the history and past is important, but only adhering to what worked then is often a trap that designers today make, and there is iteration being done to improve them.
This series will help you learn the fundamentals and reach of a genre to make you a better designer and will also help with creating the best possible version of your game to succeed in today's complicated market.
Game Design Deep Dive: Metroidvania
1st Edition
By Joshua Bycer
June 29, 2025
Game Design Critic and expert Joshua Bycer is back with another entry in the Game Design Deep Dive series for a look at one of the most popular, and confusing, genres out there. Metroidvania is a genre of high‑highs and low‑lows, and Josh is taking up the task to explain what a metroidvania is, the...
Game Design Deep Dive: Real-Time Strategy
1st Edition
By Joshua Bycer
December 30, 2024
Game Design Deep Dive: Real‑Time Strategy focuses on what was once one of the most popular genres in the world and the one that truly kicked off the rise of eSports. It has seen more fundamental changes as a genre than any other genre, and Game Design Critic Josh Bycer will talk about its history ...
Game Design Deep Dive: Shooters
1st Edition
By Joshua Bycer
September 11, 2024
This entry in the Game Design Deep Dive series takes a look at the shooter genre: one that has grown with the times and whose influence can be felt from indie teams to major studios. Joshua Bycer breaks down the 30‑plus‑year history of one of the most popular genres of the games industry to educate...
Game Design Deep Dive: Soulslike
1st Edition
By Joshua Bycer
May 02, 2024
Game Design Critic Joshua Bycer is back with another entry in the Game Design Deep Series to focus on the youngest genre yet: soulslikes. Over a decade, From Software defined a new genre that has led to studios chasing after them hit after hit. In this book, Josh will cover the history of the genre...
Game Design Deep Dive: Role Playing Games
1st Edition
By Joshua Bycer
October 30, 2023
Game Design Critic Josh Bycer is back with another entry in the Game Design Deep Dive series to discuss the Role-Playing Game genre. Arguably one of the most recognizable in the industry today, what is and what isn’t an RPG has changed over the years. From the origins in the tabletop market, to now...
Game Design Deep Dive: Trading and Collectible Card Games
1st Edition
By Joshua Bycer
August 03, 2023
In Game Design Deep Dive: Trading and Collectible Card Games, game design analyst Joshua Bycer is back to discuss the deck-building genre, from the original success of Magic: The Gathering to today’s market with online card games like Hearthstone and Gwent. The design and philosophy of deck ...
Game Design Deep Dive: Free-to-Play
1st Edition
By Joshua Bycer
August 17, 2022
Game Design Deep Dive: Free-to-Play (F2P) continues the series’ focus on examining genres with a look at the history and methodology behind free-to-play and mobile games. The genre is one of the most lucrative and controversial in the industry. Josh Bycer lays out not only the potential and ...
Game Design Deep Dive: Horror
1st Edition
By Joshua Bycer
October 08, 2021
The Game Design Deep Dive series examines a specific game system or mechanic over the course of the history of the industry. This entry will examine the history and design of the horror genre and elements in video games. The author analyzes early video game examples, including the differences ...
Game Design Deep Dive: Roguelikes
1st Edition
By Joshua Bycer
April 08, 2021
Game Design Deep Dive: Roguelikes examines the history and rise of the often-confusing roguelike genre. Despite being more than 30 years old, the roguelike genre remains a mystery to a lot of consumers and developers. Procedural generation, or having the game generate content, has been a ...
Game Design Deep Dive: Platformers
1st Edition
By Joshua Bycer
October 07, 2019
The Game Design Deep Dive series examines specific game systems or mechanics over the course of the history of the industry. This book examines the history of jumping – one of the oldest mechanics in the industry – and how it has evolved and changed over the years. The author looks at the ...