You can help... with the Four R's!

Hey all,

The next book in the "! saga" is out and I call it "Swipe This! The Guide To Great Touchscreen Game Design" by Scott Rogers. It looks like this:

"Swipe This!" is all about designing great games for anything with a touch screen. It contains everything you liked about "Level Up!" - tons of first-hand practical game design knowledge, useful advice and hundreds of goofy original illustrations by yours truly. This time we even have interviews with noted and up-and-coming game developers and analyses of successful touchscreen games so you can learn from their success. "Swipe This!" is available everywhere and in every format books are sold: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kindle, etc.

Now, I'm sure you're asking yourself "This is fantastic news Scott but how can I help?" By doing the FOUR R's:

1) READ - Read "Swipe This!", enjoy "Swipe This!" If you already own a copy, have I mentioned it makes a great gift for anyone who loves video games?

2) REQUEST - What if you can't find "Swipe This!" at your local bookstore or library? Have no fear. Request them to carry it. Ask a friendly employee if they'd please order and stock a copy or two.

3) RECOMMEND - If you enjoy "Swipe This!" don't keep it to yourself! Tell a friend or family member about it. Or go onto a social media site such as Facebook or Twitter and tell the inter webs how much you enjoyed "Swipe This!"

4) REVIEW - If you really enjoyed "Swipe This!" feel free to review it. On your blog, on Amazon.com, in your local newspaper, on another website. Every review out there helps make the book that much more of a success. Please let the world know about "Swipe This!" and why they would enjoy it too! Just let me know when you've reviewed it and I'll re-post the link or shout-out the magazine.

That's it! Just follow the four R's and let's spread the word about "Swipe This!"

Thanks in advance,

Love,

Scott

Well, hello there!

I haven't been ignoring you, honest. In reality, I've been pretty busy. Here's what's NEW:

New JOB! Disney Imagineering! No, I can't get you free tickets to Disneyland and I can't talk about any details about my job, but let's just say I see ten amazing things a week.

New BOOK! Swipe This! The Guide to Great Touch Screen Game Design can be bought anywhere a book or e-book can be bought (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kindle, etc.). http://www.amazon.com/Swipe-This-Touchscreen-Design-ebook/dp/B00887QJSE

New TALK! I delivered a talk on "The Other Side of the Table: Pitching to Publishers" this spring at the Game Developers Conference. The slides will be posted here soon.

New INTERVIEW! I talked to Joe Method (owner of the swankiest jacket ever) about Level Up!, Swipe This!, video games and life in general. You can hear it for FREE here: http://joemethod.com/podcast.php?p=1&d=1 or on iTunes here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/game-design-w-joe-method/id529646329 (episode 11)

New... aw, look at that PUPPY! IT'S SOOOO CUTE!

Sorry about that.

New STUFF! Eventually. Awesomeness like the Swipe This! T-shirt! and more super-opinioned articles from yours truly.

See you soon!

Passing the test!

I often get requests for asipring designers for examples of game design documentation. While there are some shown in Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design, there are many many more than I have created over the years. I have decided to post several of my game designs. Hopefully they will inspire and (or at least) amuse you. But rather than start with a design from a completed game, I'll start with one that got me a job instead.

A design test is where a team asks a designer to create an example of gameplay based on a set of criteria. There is usually a descriptive portion and a "draw what you mean" portion of the design test.

This test was from 2003 when Sony Santa Monica was interviewing me for a designer position on a little game called "God of War." They were looking for someone who could create boss fights and this is what I came up with: "Occulus, the sewer horror!" You can see why they hired me as it bears resemblance to a certain multi-headed boss I later designed for the game! Sometimes things are meant to be!