Game Balance

Within the field of game design, game balance can best be described as a black art. It is the process by which game designers make a game simultaneously fair for players while providing them just the right amount of difficulty to be both exciting and challenging without making the game entirely predictable. This involves a combination of mathematics, psychology, and occasionally other fields such as economics and game theory.

Game Balance offers readers a dynamic look into game design and player theory. Throughout the book, relevant topics on the use of spreadsheet programs will be included in each chapter. This book therefore doubles as a useful reference on Microsoft Excel, Google Spreadsheets, and other spreadsheet programs and their uses for game designers.

FEATURES

• The first and only book to explore game balance as a topic in depth
• Topics range from intermediate to advanced, while written in an accessible style that demystifies even the most challenging mathematical concepts to the point where a novice student of game design can understand and apply them
• Contains powerful spreadsheet techniques which have been tested with all major spreadsheet programs and battle-tested with real-world game design tasks
• Provides short-form exercises at the end of each chapter to allow for practice of the techniques discussed therein along with three long-term projects divided into parts throughout the book that involve their creation
• Written by award-winning designers with decades of experience in the field

Ian Schreiber has been in the industry since 2000, first as a programmer and then as a game designer. He has worked on eight published game titles, training/simulation games for three Fortune 500 companies, and has advised countless student projects. He is the co-founder of Global Game Jam, the largest in-person game jam event in the world. Ian has taught game design and development courses at a variety of colleges and universities since 2006.

Brenda Romero is a BAFTA award-winning game director, entrepreneur, artist, and Fulbright award recipient and is presently game director and creator of the Empire of Sin franchise. As a game director, she has worked on 50 games and contributed to many seminal titles, including the Wizardry and Jagged Alliance series and titles in the Ghost Recon, Dungeons & Dragons, and Def Jam franchises.

在遊戲設計領域中，遊戲平衡可以被形容為一門黑魔法。這是遊戲設計師在讓遊戲對玩家公平的同時，提供適度的難度，使遊戲既刺激又具有挑戰性，同時又不會讓遊戲完全可預測的過程。這涉及到數學、心理學，以及偶爾還包括經濟學和遊戲理論等其他領域的結合。

《遊戲平衡》為讀者提供了對遊戲設計和玩家理論的動態觀察。在整本書中，每個章節都將包含有關使用電子表格程序的相關主題。因此，本書還可以作為有關Microsoft Excel、Google Spreadsheets和其他電子表格程序及其在遊戲設計中的應用的有用參考資料。

特點包括：
- 第一本也是唯一一本深入探討遊戲平衡的書籍
- 主題從中級到高級，以易於理解的風格撰寫，將最具挑戰性的數學概念解密，以至於遊戲設計的初學者也能理解並應用它們
- 包含經過所有主要電子表格程序測試並在真實遊戲設計任務中經受過考驗的強大電子表格技巧
- 每章末尾提供短期練習，以便練習其中討論的技巧，並提供三個長期項目，分為書中的各個部分，涉及其創作
- 由在該領域擁有數十年經驗的屢獲殊榮的設計師撰寫

Ian Schreiber自2000年以來一直在遊戲行業工作，起初是作為程序員，然後成為遊戲設計師。他參與了八個已發行的遊戲，為三家財富500強公司開發了培訓/模擬遊戲，並為無數學生項目提供了建議。他是全球遊戲創作馬拉松（Global Game Jam）的聯合創始人，該活動是世界上最大的實體遊戲創作馬拉松活動。Ian自2006年以來在各種大學和學院教授遊戲設計和開發課程。

Brenda Romero是一位獲得英國電影和電視藝術學院（BAFTA）獎的遊戲導演、企業家、藝術家和富布萊特獎（Fulbright）獲獎者，目前是《Empire of Sin》系列的遊戲導演和創作者。作為遊戲導演，她參與了50個遊戲的開發，並為許多具有重要影響力的遊戲作品做出了貢獻，包括《Wizardry》和《Jagged Alliance》系列，以及《Ghost Recon》、《Dungeons & Dragons》和《Def Jam》系列的作品。

Brenda Romero is an award-winning game designer, artist and Fulbright scholar who entered the video game industry in 1981. As a designer, she has contributed to many seminal titles, including the Wizardry and Jagged Alliance series and titles in the Ghost Recon and Dungeons & Dragons franchises. Away from the machine, her analog series of six games, The Mechanic is the Message, has drawn national and international acclaim, particularly Train and Síochán Leat (The Irish Game) which is presently housed in the National Museum of Play. In 2015, she won the coveted Ambassador's Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards. In 2014, she received a Fulbright award to study Ireland's game industry, academic and government policies. In 2013, she was named one of the top 10 game developers by Gamasutra.com and Develop magazine listed her among the 25 people who changed games in 2013. Romero co-owns Loot Drop and Romero Games.

Ian Schreiber has been in the industry for eight years, first as a programmer and then as a game designer. He has worked on five published game titles, including Playboy: the Mansion and the Nintendo DS version of Marvel Trading Card Game. He has also developed training/simulation games for two Fortune 500 companies. Ian has taught game design and development courses at Ohio University, Columbus State Community College, and Savannah College of Art and Design, and has mentored college students at those and several other universities. Ian currently teaches at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Brenda Romero是一位屢獲殊榮的遊戲設計師、藝術家和富布萊特學者，她於1981年進入了電子遊戲行業。作為一名設計師，她為許多具有重要影響力的遊戲作品做出了貢獻，包括《巫術》和《鋸齒聯盟》系列，以及《幽靈行動》和《龍與地下城》等特許經營的遊戲。在遠離電腦的時候，她的六款模擬遊戲系列《機械即訊息》在國內外贏得了廣泛的讚譽，尤其是《列車》和《Síochán Leat（愛爾蘭遊戲）》，目前被收藏在國家遊戲博物館中。2015年，她在遊戲開發者選擇獎中獲得了備受追捧的大使獎。2014年，她獲得了富布萊特獎學金，研究愛爾蘭的遊戲行業、學術和政府政策。2013年，她被Gamasutra.com評為前十位遊戲開發者之一，Develop雜誌將她列為2013年改變遊戲的25人之一。Romero是Loot Drop和Romero Games的共同所有人。

Ian Schreiber在遊戲行業已有八年的經驗，起初是作為一名程序員，後來成為遊戲設計師。他參與了五款已發行的遊戲作品，包括《花花公子：豪宅》和任天堂DS版的《漫威交易卡遊戲》。他還為兩家財富500強公司開發了培訓/模擬遊戲。Ian曾在俄亥俄大學、哥倫布州立社區學院和薩凡納藝術與設計學院教授遊戲設計和開發課程，並在這些學校以及其他幾所大學指導大學生。Ian目前在羅徹斯特理工學院任教。