I will once again be teaching Writing & Editing for Gaming for the Professional Writing department at Taylor University during the Fall 2021 Semester. Thus, it is time once again to research and update my knowledge of the tabletop game industry and game studies academia. I will review some of my favorite books from earlier class reading list and I have some new books I am already planning to read this summer.
Books on my reading list this summer already:
- The Functions of Role-Playing Games: How Participants Create Community, Solve Problems and Explore Identity by Sarah Lynne Bowman
- Game Production – Prototyping and Producing Your Board Game by Geroffrey Engelstein
- The Postmodern Joy of Role-Playing Games: Agency, Ritual and Meaning in the Medium by René Reinhold Schallegger
- Roleplaying Games in the Digital Age: Essays on Transmedia Storytelling, Tabletop RPGs and Fandom by Stephanie Hedge
- Role-Playing Game Studies by José Zagal and Sebastian Deterding
- Shared Fantasy: Role Playing Games as Social Worlds by Gary Alan Fine
- Tabletop Role-Playing Games and the Experience of Imagined Worlds by Nicholas J. Mizer
Previously, I have read these books in preparation for the course and recommend them to my students as well.
- Board Games That Tell Stories by Ignacy Trzewiczek
- The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming by Terry Litorco
- The Creation of Narrative In Tabletop Role-Playing Games by Jennifer Grouling Cover
- Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds by Joseph Laycock
- Designers & Dragons: A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry by Shannon Appelcline
- The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology by Katie Salen Tekinbas and Eric Zimmermann
- The Game Narrative Toolbox by Tobias Heussner and more
- Girls on Games: A Look at the Fairer Side of the Industry by Elisa Teague
- Hamlet’s Hit Points by Robin D. Laws
- The King’s English – A Guide to Modern Usage by Kingsley Amis
- Kobold Guide to Board Game Design by Mike Selinker
- Kobold Guide to Combat by Wolfgang Baur, Ed Greenwood, Chris Pramas, et al.
- Kobold Guide to Game Design by Wolfgang Baur, Ed Greenwood, Monte Cook, et al.
- Kobold Guide to Plots & Campaigns by Margaret Weis, Wolfgang Baur, Jeff Grubb, et al.
- Kobold Guide to Magic by Wolfgang Baur, Tim Pratt, Kenneth Hite, et al.
- Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding by Wolfgang Baur
- Playing at the World by Jon Peterson
- Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals by Katie Salen Tekinbas and Eric Zimmerman
- Second Person: Role-Playing and Story in Games and Playable Media by Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardip-Fruin
- A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Ralph Koster
- Twisty Little Passages: An Approach in Interactive Fiction by Nick Montfort
- Word by Word: An Editor Guides Writers in the Self-Editing Process by Linda K. Taylor
Are there other books you would recommend on the topic of writing and editing for gaming?
Writing & Editing For Gaming Course: Researching for Fall 2021